Delhi High Court quashes case against POCSO accused after noting he was in relationship with victim, married her

The Delhi High Court recently quashed a first information report (FIR) registered under provision of Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) and Section 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against a man after noting that he had married the victim and also had two children with her [Prem Kumar v The State & Ors]..Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar passed the order after noting that the couple was in a relationship despite opposition from the girl’s family and sexual relations were established with the consent of the minor girl.The Court observed that the "mistake or blunder" has been committed due to “immature acts and uncontrolled emotions of two persons, out of whom one was a minor on the verge of majority at the time of incident”.The Court said that if the FIR is not quashed, the man will have to face incarceration for at least ten years which will negatively impact the couple and their children’s lives.“The mistake or blunder, which otherwise constitutes an offence, has been committed due to immature act and uncontrolled emotions of two persons, out of whom, one was a minor, on the verge of majority, at the time of incident as claimed by the state. The petitioner’s prosecution and conviction will lead to pain and tears in the eyes of the family members of both the parties and future of two families will be at stake, whereas, if the impugned FIR is quashed, it would serve the ends of justice and would bring joy to both the families and two minor children as well,” the Court said..The FIR in the case was registered in the year 2017 based on a complaint filed by the father of the minor girl. The girl told the Police that sexual relationship between her and the accused was consensual and they got married in a hotel in Meghalaya.The couple had two children aged five years and one year..Considering the facts of the case, Justice Bhatnagar said that even though Section 376 IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act are not compoundable under Section 320 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), however, the authority of the High Court under Section 482 CrPC remains unrestricted by the provisions of Section 320.“It [High Court] can use its inherent powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash FIRs and criminal proceedings if deemed necessary based on the specific facts and circumstances of the case, either to serve the interests of justice or to prevent the misuse of the court process. This power can even be exercised in cases where the offenses are non-compoundable, but the parties have reached a settlement among themselves,” the Court held.It, therefore, quashed the FIR..Advocate Manish Kumar and Salman appeared for the petitioner Prem Kumar.State was represented through its Standing Counsel Sanjay Lao as well as advocates Shivesh Kaushik, Priyam Aggarwal and Abhinav Kumar Arya.The victim was represented by advocate Anand Ranjan. .[Read Judgment]