Yesterday, the Supreme Court sought response from the Central Government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction on decriminalization of consensual sex between 16- to 18-year-olds.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, acknowledged the PIL filed by lawyer Harsh Vibhore Singhal in his individual capacity.

The bench has issued notices to various authoroties, including the Union ministries of law and justice, Home affairs, and the National Commission for Women.

The bench has issued notices to Union ministries of law and justice and the home affairs and some other statutory bodies including the National Commission for Women.

The PIL contests the validity of statutory rape statutes that criminalize consensual sex between teenagers who are older than 16 but younger than 18 on the grounds that such consent is legally void.

It has been stated in the petition that, "Pass a writ of mandamus under Article 32 or any other direction in the nature of writ and exercise its powers under 142 to decriminalise the law of statutory rape as applied to all cases of voluntary consensual sexual contact between any 16 to <18 adolescent with another similar age adolescent and with >18 adult...," .

It further says "physiological, biological, psychological and social capacities, competence to assimilate and evaluate information to understand and comprehend risks, freedom to make informed choices to convey affirmative decisions or otherwise, and have the agency and decisional/bodily autonomy to fearlessly, freely and voluntarily do what they wish to do with their bodies."