Eye-opener case: Supreme Court saves POCSO convict from jail term citing his marriage to victim

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refrained from sentencing a convict under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) citing his marriage to the victim who was 14 years old at the time of incident in 2018 [In Re: Right to Privacy of Adolescent]..A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan exercised Supreme Court's inherent power under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to grant reprieve to the convict as it called the case an eyeopener for everyone."What troubles us is the issue of sentencing. Though the victim did not treat the incident as heinous crime, she suffered because of it. This was because at an earlier stage, the victim could not make an informed choice due to the shortcomings in our society, our legal system and in her family," the Court remarked.It added that victim, who had given birth to a child, herself is desperate to save her husband and family ."The society judged her, the legal system failed her and her own family abandoned her. Now she is at a stage where she is desperate to save her husband, she is emotionally committed to the accused and has become very possessive about her small family."."The facts of the case are eyeopener for everyone. It highlights the lacuna in our legal system."Supreme Court.The verdict came in a suo motu case initiated by the top court in the wake of a Calcutta High Court ruling that had asked adolescent girls to "control" their sexual urges instead of "giving in to two minutes of pleasure".It had sparked controversy since it proposed a 'duty/obligation based approach' for teenagers, and suggested that adolescent females and males have different duties.In December 2023, Supreme Court had taken suo motu coginzance of the same, opining that the comments made by the High Court were sweeping, objectionable, irrelevant, preachy and unwarranted. West Bengal government had also challenged the High Court decision to acquit the accused. The top court quashed the High Court order in August 2024 and restored the conviction.However, top court had delayed the decision on sentencing to await the report of a committee constituted to help the victim make an informed choice about her future."The duty of the committee shall be to help the victim to make an informed choice whether she wants to continue to remain in the company of the accused and his family or wants to avail of the benefits offered by the State Government," the top court had ordered.Today, the top court said the report submitted by the committee concluded that though the incident was seen as a crime in law, the victim did not accept it as one."The Committee records that it was not a legal crime that caused any trauma to the victim but rather it was the consequence that followed which took a toll on her. What she had to face as a consequence was the police, the legal system and the constant battle to save the accused from punishment," it added.Consequently, the top court did not impose any sentence on the convict. It also issued directions to the State government. The Court also issued notice to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development for further directions on the larger issues flagged in the case. .Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi represented the State of West Bengal. Senior Advocates Madhavi Divan and Liz Mathew served as amicus curiae in the matter.