Delhi High Court: The Delhi High Court has pulled up the police for invoking Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act against the accused in an alleged rape case, for presuming that the victim must be a minor as she was in class 12 at the time of the incident. I was in Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar’s bench, which was hearing a plea seeking quashing of rape case on the basis of compromise between the parties, asked the counsel for the prosecutor as to how this provision was invoked here.
The victim was in class 12 at the time of the incident.
The lawyer said that since the victim girl was in class 12 at the time of the incident, it was presumed that she would be a minor. To this, Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar of the Delhi High Court said that the presentations by the APP are highly ridiculous. Without any document on record, how can one assume that the victim is a minor, it is not even necessary that a minor girl may be in 12th standard, even an older girl may be in 12th standard.
The case will be heard in March
The counsel for the police has then sought his time to file the status report on the matter. The court also issued a notice to the DCP to appear on the next date of hearing. The court asked why the investigating officer was not present in the court on Wednesday. After this, the court has listed the matter for next hearing on March 7, 2023. Section 6 of the POCSO Act states that whoever commits aggravated penetrative sexual assault shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 20 years. Apart from this, this punishment may extend to imprisonment for life beyond 20 years.
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