Report by Suchitra Kalyan Mohanty for The New Indian Express

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would hear the issue over the statutory age of consent for adolescents on November 12, saying it would rather hear the case in “continuity” than in a “piecemeal” manner.

A three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria was hearing the matter.

The Centre has defended the statutory age of consent of 18 years, saying the decision was a “deliberate, well-considered, and coherent” policy choice.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG), Aishwaraya Bhati, senior law officer of the Centre, submitted that diluting the age of consent or introducing exceptions under the guise of adolescent romance would be not only legally unsound but also dangerous.