Comprehension
An unintended and unjust consequence of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 is its widespread persecution of teenage lovers. This law raised the age of consent from 16 to 18 years, while defining persons below 18 years as children. Consequently, when two 16-year-olds are romantically and sexually involved, but the girl's family doesn't approve the affair and files a police complaint, her consent has zero legal validity. And the consensual relationship morphs into a case of statutory rape. The Allahabad High Court has indicated how its "conscience" is concerned by such severe POCSO provisions being drawn by teenage lovers simply on the basis of family disapproval. The High Courts of Delhi, Madras and others have made similar observations in recent years and also pointed to amendments to the law that can help reduce its injustices. One suggestion that has gathered broad support is to push back both the cut-off for childhood and the age of consent to 16 years. Given that the NCRB data shows around half of POCSO cases falling in the 16-18 years age group, such an amendment is overdue. Minimizing the prosecution of consensual romances would also leave a logjammed system with more space to pursue actual sexual assault cases. The broader goal here is respecting the rights of adolescents and young adults. Their romantic and sexual autonomy needs greatly increased recognition in India.
Question: 1

"Minimising the prosecution of consensual romances would also leave a logjammed system with more space to pursue actual sexual assault cases."
In the context of the statement, which of the following strengthens the author's opinion?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • There are many unreported sexual assault cases.
  • Speedy prosecution of sexual assault cases is desirable.
  • Consensual romance, in some cases, can amount to sexual assault.
  • Sexual assault and rape are different.
Show Solution

The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

We need the option that most strengthens the idea that removing consensual-romance cases from POCSO prosecutions gives the system more room to pursue real sexual assault cases.

  1. Sexual assault and rape are different: A definitional point that doesn't touch on system capacity or prosecution speed, so it has no strengthening effect here.
  2. Consensual romance, in some cases, can amount to sexual assault: This undercuts the argument rather than supporting it, if some "consensual" cases really are assault, then simply excluding them from prosecution becomes questionable.
  3. There are many unreported sexual assault cases: This is about cases that never reach the system, it doesn't explain why freeing capacity within the system for cases that do reach it is valuable.
  4. Speedy prosecution of sexual assault cases is desirable: This fills in the missing link in the argument, freeing up an overloaded system only matters if getting real assault cases prosecuted quickly is itself worth achieving. Affirming that desirability is exactly what makes the claim about freeing up space persuasive.

The correct answer is Speedy prosecution of sexual assault cases is desirable.

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Question: 2

What has the author conveyed regarding the prosecution of statutory rape in India?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • Statutory rape does not violate the romantic and sexual autonomy of young adults.
  • Statutory rape must be met with stricter punishment.
  • Statutory rape must be abolished.
  • Statutory rape is a relic of Victorian morality.
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

This question is about the stance on statutory rape prosecution itself, not on its current misapplication to teenage romance. Let's assess the options.

  1. Statutory rape is a relic of Victorian morality: The reasoning is built on practical, data-driven grounds, NCRB figures, court observations, age-threshold logic, not on a historical or moral critique of the law's origins, so this does not match the tone of the argument.
  2. Statutory rape must be abolished: The passage explicitly wants "actual sexual assault cases" to still be pursued and even argues for freeing up the system to prosecute them better, which means statutory rape as an offence is meant to stay, just applied correctly.
  3. Statutory rape must be met with stricter punishment: Nowhere is a call for tougher sentences made, the recommendation is entirely about redrawing the age of consent and the childhood cut-off, not about punishment severity.
  4. Statutory rape does not violate the romantic and sexual autonomy of young adults: Since the proposed fix is to correctly set the age thresholds rather than eliminate the offence, the implication is that properly scoped statutory rape prosecution, once it excludes consensual peer relationships, does not itself infringe on young adults' autonomy. It is the current overbroad application that does.

The correct answer is Statutory rape does not violate the romantic and sexual autonomy of young adults.

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Question: 3

As per the above passage, which of the following does not correctly represent the author's view regarding the widespread persecution of teenage lovers under the POCSO Act?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • Teenagers have the right to love as much as adults.
  • Police complaints of teenage lovers may lead to their harassment.
  • Consent of minor girls do not have legal validity.
  • Consent of minor girls have legal validity.
Show Solution

The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

We need to find the one statement that goes against, rather than matches, the author's view on teenage lovers being persecuted under POCSO.

  1. Consent of minor girls do not have legal validity: This directly echoes the passage's own wording, that consent "has zero legal validity," so it matches the author's view.
  2. Police complaints of teenage lovers may lead to their harassment: This matches the scenario the passage lays out, family disapproval leading to a complaint and prosecution, so it also fits the author's account.
  3. Teenagers have the right to love as much as adults: This aligns with the call for greater recognition of adolescents' romantic and sexual autonomy, so it too matches the author's view.
  4. Consent of minor girls have legal validity: This flatly contradicts the passage, which states the opposite, that such consent currently carries zero legal validity. Since this is the reverse of what the author says, it is the option that fails to represent the view.

The correct answer is Consent of minor girls have legal validity.

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Question: 4

In the above passage, which of the following has concerned the "conscience" of the Allahabad High Court?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • Carelessness of teenage lovers.
  • Threat to the safety of teenage lovers.
  • Impact on mental health of teenage lovers.
  • Harassment of teenage lovers by their families.
Show Solution

The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

The question is narrowly about what specifically bothered the Allahabad High Court's "conscience," per the passage.

  1. Impact on mental health of teenage lovers: The passage does not discuss mental health effects at all, its concern is about the misuse of legal provisions, not psychological impact.
  2. Threat to the safety of teenage lovers: No physical safety threat is described in the passage, the issue raised is a legal one, criminal charges being brought, not a safety concern.
  3. Carelessness of teenage lovers: The passage places no blame on the teenagers, its criticism is aimed at how families and the law are used against them, not at their own conduct.
  4. Harassment of teenage lovers by their families: The passage's own words describe the court's conscience being troubled by severe POCSO provisions invoked "simply on the basis of family disapproval," which is precisely families using the legal system to harass a couple whose relationship they disapprove of.

The correct answer is Harassment of teenage lovers by their families.

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Question: 5

As per the above passage, which of the following is a major challenge in implementation of the POCSO Act?

Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • Speedy prosecution of cases.
  • Respecting the rights of adolescents and young adults.
  • Counselling of adolescents and young adults.
  • Imposition of stringent punishment.
Show Solution

The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

This question wants an actual implementation challenge for the POCSO Act, not one of the outcomes the author hopes the law will eventually achieve.

  1. Imposition of stringent punishment: The author's argument pushes the opposite way, toward narrowing the harsh application of the law to consensual peer relationships, not toward making punishment more stringent, so this cannot be the challenge being pointed to.
  2. Respecting the rights of adolescents and young adults: This is described as the broader goal the passage is building toward, not a specific operational hurdle in implementing the Act day to day.
  3. Speedy prosecution of cases: Speedy prosecution is framed as a benefit that follows once the system is freed up, it is a desired result, not itself the challenge in implementation.
  4. Counselling of adolescents and young adults: The passage's account shows that complaints often arise not from actual harm but from family disapproval and a mismatch between the law's intent and social attitudes toward adolescent relationships. Bridging that gap through counselling and awareness for young people and their families is a genuine, unaddressed challenge in making the law work as intended.

The correct answer is Counselling of adolescents and young adults.

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Top Questions on Verbal Reasoning

Questions Asked in CLAT exam

Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the 'haves' have to yield place to the 'have-nots'. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held back by a big dam, once the barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by a few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others.

According to the passage, egalitarianism will not survive if
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Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. This unfinished part of his experiment was perhaps even more difficult to achieve than the achievement of political freedom. In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. In establishing a social order on this pattern, there was a strong possibility of a conflict arising between diverse groups and classes of our own people.

According to the passage, which was the unfinished part of Gandhi's experiment?
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Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life because in the former he sees the means for perpetuation and survival of his descendants even after his body is reduced to ashes. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness or the acquisitive instinct.

Which of the following statements is 'not true' in the context of the passage?
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