Children and the Law: The Child as a Rights-Holder
Chapter Ninety-One
Syllabus topic 6.1, "Children and the Law". The opening of the second half of MU's third module.
Pages 462 to 466 of 768
In one line
Indian law has no single definition of a child: it has eight, and which one governs depends on what the child is being protected from.
In the wording a student can write in an exam: the child in Indian law is not a person of a fixed age but a person whom a particular statute protects for a particular purpose. The Indian Majority Act 1875 fixes majority at eighteen. Article 24 forbids the employment of a child below FOURTEEN in a factory, mine or hazardous employment. Article 21A guarantees free and compulsory education to children between SIX AND FOURTEEN. Article 45 requires provision for early childhood care and education until a child completes SIX. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 both define a child as a person below EIGHTEEN. The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986, after the amendment of 2016, defines a child as a person below fourteen and an ADOLESCENT as one between fourteen and eighteen. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 defines a child as a male below TWENTY-ONE and a female below EIGHTEEN. And the criminal law absolves a child below SEVEN absolutely and a child between seven and twelve who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding.
The eight ages, in one table
| Purpose | Age | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Majority generally | 18, or 21 where a guardian is appointed by court | Indian Majority Act 1875 |
| Absolute immunity from criminal liability | under 7 | section 20, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 |
| Immunity where maturity is lacking | 7 to under 12 | section 21, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 |
| Early childhood care and education | until 6 | article 45 |
| Free and compulsory education as a fundamental right | 6 to 14 | article 21A and the Act of 2009 |
| Prohibition of employment in a factory, mine or hazardous work | under 14 | article 24 |
| Child, and adolescent, for labour law | under 14, and 14 to 18 | Child and Adolescent Labour Act 1986 as amended 2016 |
| Protection from sexual offences, and from the juvenile justice system as an adult | under 18 | POCSO 2012, section 2(1)(d); JJ Act 2015, section 2(12) |
| Child marriage | male under 21, female under 18 | Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, section 2(a) |
| Consent to a sexual act | 18 | section 63, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita |
Why the spread exists. Each age was fixed for its own purpose at its own time: fourteen for factory work in 1950 because that was the schooling age then contemplated; eighteen for sexual offences in 2012 because the Convention on the Rights of the Child uses it; twenty-one for a male at marriage because that was the age in the Act of 1929 it replaced.
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