'Regressive' bill on legal age for sex gets Cabinet nod

April 27, 2012

New Delhi, April 27: The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared a Bill that seeks to raise the age of legal sex from 16 to 18, provoking sharp criticism from child rights activists, who called it a regressive step.

The Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Bill, 2011, says sex under the age of 18 - even if consensual - would be deemed as statutory rape and an offence that would be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act carrying a maximum punishment of three years imprisonment.

Activists are taken aback by the move as it comes at a time when sexual mores have become easier and the global trend has been one of puberty coming at an earlier age. The Bill, which sailed smoothly at the meeting, was slammed by activists and legal experts who said it was out of tune with the reality of sex ceasing to be taboo among youth.

The legislation makes India an exception among democracies that have stuck to 16 years as the age for legal sex.

While the UK has 16 as its age of consent, Canada and the US follow a nuanced approach exempting minors of the same age or close-in-age from punishment.

The Bill has dropped the term "age of consent", which, according to many, allowed for consensual sex among individuals aged 16 and above.

The change was prompted by a controversial recommendation by Parliament's standing committee on HRD. The panel said that the "age of consent" provision was inconsistent with the Indian Penal Code and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act both of which recognize 18 as the legal age for sex, and asked for the removal of discrepancy. The committee, in other words, by inference deemed that sex outside marriage was undesirable - again a position that is held to be retrograde.

This move in the name of uniformity has activists and experts up in arms. Former Law Commission member Kirti Singh criticized it saying that this would amount to "criminalizing'' sex between young people. "The remedy to young people indulging in sexual activity is not by clamping down through law and enforcement. This will have a negative impact on the false cases of rape, kidnapping and honour killing.''

Bharti Ali of HAQ: Centre for Child Rights was equally scathing. She termed it a "ridiculous'' amendment and a statement on the Indian attitude towards sex. "We don't want to talk about sex with our children and when they want to explore, we put them behind bars. This will only be misused by police and sends a wrong signal to children,'' she added.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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