MP High Court requests Centre to reduce women's consent age to 16 from 18
Gwalior (PTI): The Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has requested the Centre to reduce the consent age of females to 16, observing that the present age of 18 has disturbed the fabric of society as injustice is going on with adolescent boys.
The court's request came on June 27 through an order quashing a First Information Report (FIR) against a man who was accused of repeatedly raping a minor girl and impregnating her in 2020.
Nowadays, every male or female near the age of 14 years, due to social media awareness and easily accessible internet connectivity, is getting puberty at an early age, the judge said.
The court said boys and girls get attracted to each other owing to early puberty, which is ultimately "resulting in consensual physical relationships", read the order.
"'I request the Government of India to think over the matter for reducing the age of prosecutrix (female complainant) from 18 to 16 years as earlier before (IPC) amendments (were made) so that injustice should be redressed," read the order by Justice Deepak Kumar Agarwal.
The court said the age of consent for females at 18 has "disturbed the fabric of society".
As per the prosecution, the complainant was a minor in 2020 and would take coaching classes from the petitioner. She alleged that the petitioner once gave her a spiked drink, raped her and made a video of the sexual assault. He then allegedly raped her many times blackmailing her with the clip.
Later, the minor had also physical relations with a distant relative, the court noted.
"This Court, looking into the physical and mental development of an adolescent of that age group, would consider it logical that such a person is capable of making a conscious decision as regard his or her well-being," the court said.
"Generally, girls and boys of adolescence develop friendship and thereafter, due to attraction make physical relationship," it said. In these cases, male persons are not at all criminal, the court order said.
"Today, most of the criminal cases, in which prosecutrix is under 18 years of age, due to aforesaid anomaly, injustice is going on with adolescent boys. Thus, I request the Government of India to think over the matter for reducing the age of prosecutrix from 18 to 16 years as earlier before amendments so that injustice should be redressed," said the court.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
