Parliament Panel Not To Push For Lowering Age Limit To 16 In POCSO Cases

The government asserted that existing laws are adequate to deal with heinous crimes committed by those in this age group.

A key parliamentary panel has decided not to push for lowering the age limit to 16 years from 18 years for juveniles involved in serious POCSO cases after the government asserted that existing laws are adequate to deal with heinous crimes committed by those in this age group. The government's response comes based on an observation of the parliamentary standing committee on Home Affairs led by Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader Anand Sharma which noted that there have been a large number of cases under the POCSO Act where the age of the juveniles has been below the threshold age for applicability of the law. "The Committee believes that minor sexual offenders may commit more serious and heinous crimes if left untreated/uncounselled. "Therefore, it is very important to relook at these provisions because more and more juveniles are getting involved in such crimes. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the MHA may take up with MoW&CD to review the current age limit of 18 years and see if it can be reduced to 16 years for the applicability of the POCSO Act, 2012," the panel noted.