Allahabad High Court grants bail to POCSO accused after assurance that he would take care of survivor whom he married

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to a person accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after he undertook that he would take care of the survivor, whom he had married, and their child who was born out of the alleged assault [Ramshankar v State of UP]..While allowing the bail application, Justice Krishan Pahal held that though the marriage of the accused and survivor may not be as per law, the court must take a pragmatic approach. "The matter shatters the conscious of one and all. What is the fault of the new born baby who has come to world under such circumstances? A lot of water has flown down the Ganges. Now, it's time to move ahead," the order said. .As per the prosecution, the applicant enticed away the minor girl and after about six months, left her outside the village. She was found to be pregnant at the time and gave birth to a baby girl shortly after that. The applicant contended that he and the survivor were in love and they had eloped out of fear of villagers. They had gotten married at a temple although the marriage was not registered. It was further submitted that the victim's statement against him was untrue and she was pressurised to make the statement. He proposed to rear his child, and expressed his willingness to keep his married wife and newborn with him..On examining the evidence, the Court found that as per the radiological report, the girl was about 18-20 years old. Thus, she could have been a major at the time of the offence..The single judge was inclined to make an exception in the extraordinary circumstances of the case since the life of a newborn child was at stake."The youth in their tender age become victim to the legal parameters though rightly framed by the legislature, but here this Court is being drawn to make an exception in the extraordinary circumstances of the case," the judge observed. .It was emphasised by the court that a hyper technical and mechanical approach would be no good in such a case. "The mathematical permutations and combinations have to be done away with.. Human psychosis and that too of the adolescents has to be taken into account.".The case of Atul Mishra v State of UP was discussed by the judge where the stringent provisions of the POCSO Act were done away with under the extraordinary circumstances..With these observations, the Court decided to allow the bail application. However, it stated that the accused was being released on bail based on the assurance that he would take care of his wife and the child. The judge also directed him to deposit a sum of ₹2 lakh in a fixed deposit in child's name within a period of six months from the date of release. "In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail", recorded the order..The applicant was represented by advocates Mahesh Singh Yadav, Avdhesh Kumar Singh Yadav, Ganga Sagar Mishra and Ratnesh Singh Tomar while government advocate Munni Lal Yadav appeared for the State..[Read Order]