Young boys and girls should have the freedom to love, the court supported the youth on relationships

Recently Valentine's Week has passed. During this week, while you may have seen married couples, adult couples at many places including flower shops, restaurants and gift shops, you must have also seen young boys and girls. 

Whose age may be less than 18 years, but with the feeling of love, they too may be buying flowers. Delhi High Court has now advocated giving freedom to these young people to love.

Perhaps you too might have been shocked after reading the headline of the news. You might have read it again to confirm whether you read it correctly or not, but you have read it correctly. 

The Delhi High Court recently said that young people under the age of 18 should have the freedom to engage in romantic and consensual relationships without the fear of statutory rape laws. 

Under the statutory rape law, if any person in the relationship is under 18 years of age, then this relationship is considered a crime.

What did the court say?

While talking on this matter, Justice Jasmeet Singh's bench said that consensual physical relations between boys and girls in adolescence are also considered a crime and it is considered a crime under the POCSO Act. On this matter, the judge gave the opinion that the law should evolve to accept love between boys and girls at this young age.

The judge said, I believe that both society and law should emphasize the rights of young people to engage in romantic relationships. He also said that these relationships should be such that neither the boy nor the girl is exploited nor anyone is abused.

"There should be freedom to love"

Supporting the love of the youth, the judge said, love is an experience that everyone should have, it is a fundamental experience. 

Teenagers have the right to make emotional connections. The law should evolve to accept and respect these relationships. The condition for accepting these relationships should be that they are made with consent and there is no kind of force in them.

The court said that while the legal age of consent is necessary for the protection of minors, which is 18 years, the law should focus more on preventing exploitation and abuse in these relationships rather than criminalizing consensual relationships. The legal system should protect the right to love of young people while ensuring their safety. In cases related to teenage relationships, understanding should be given importance instead of punishment.

What was the whole matter?

In March 2024, the Andhra Pradesh High Court granted bail to a 21-year-old man booked in a POCSO case and said that courts cannot regulate teenage love. 

In July 2024, the Allahabad High Court expressed concern that the POCSO Act was being misused against teenagers in consensual romantic relationships.

The Delhi High Court gave this decision during a case in the year 2014. In the year 2014, a father had filed a complaint that his daughter, who was studying in class 12, had gone to tuition class and did not return home after that. Later the girl was found with a boy. The boy was more than 18 years old. The boy was arrested for the crime under the POCSO Act.

A trial court acquitted the accused of all charges, following which the state filed an appeal in the High Court. The High Court dismissed the state's appeal on January 30, 2025, saying that the girl had clearly stated in her testimony that her relationship with the accused was consensual. The court also said that there were discrepancies in the correct age of the girl and she was 16-17 years old at the time of the incident.

The court said that it would be harsh to convict the accused under the POCSO Act without definite proof of the girl's age, especially when the girl was just two years short of the age of majority (18 years) at the time of the incident. 

However, it was also clarified that this principle will not apply if it is proved that the girl was below 14-15 years of age at the time of the incident. The court said that in such cases, ignoring the provisions of the POCSO Act would be tantamount to murder of justice.

The court also supported earlier

This is not the first time that a court has supported the love and relationship of youth, this voice has been raised by the court many times before. 

In October 2023, the Calcutta High Court had expressed concern that the POCSO Act inappropriately links consensual physical relations between teenagers with sexual crimes.

Along with this, the court had said that this law should be amended and consensual physical relationships between teenagers above the age of 16 should not be considered a crime. A similar opinion was also expressed by the Madras High Court in 2021.

The Karnataka High Court said in February 2024 that the purpose of the POCSO Act is not to criminalize consensual relationships between teenagers but to protect them from sexual abuse.