New Delhi, Apr 17 The Delhi High Court has closed a rape and POCSO Act case against a man over his consensual relationship with a minor girl after she stated that the couple has to take care of their baby and their young family would be destroyed if the prosecution proceeded.
Justice Anup J Bhambhani was of the opinion that to secure the ends of justice and "prevent re-victimisation of the de-jure victim", the right course of action would be to quash the FIR against the man.
At the time of the alleged offence under section 64(1) (rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the girl was 17 years old and the petitioner was about 22.
The two married in September 2024 and the FIR against the man was registered in 2025 at the instance of the doctors at Safdarjung Hospital, where the girl had gone to deliver her baby and the attending doctors discovered she was a minor.
In the judgement passed on April 16, the court observed that although it was undisputed that the consent of a minor victim held no legal value, prosecuting a person on the "shoulders only of a de-jure victim", and not a victim who has alleged an injury or suffering, was not a prudent approach.
"In the course of hearing before this court, and during the interaction with respondent No.2, she has expressed unequivocal support for quashing of the criminal proceedings against the petitioner; she has said that the relationship was the result of her full consent and concurrence; that parties now need to take care of their 08-month old baby; and that their young family would be destroyed if the petitioner is prosecuted in the subject FIR," the court noted.
"Upon a conspectus of the foregoing facts and circumstances, and in particular keeping in mind the enormous consequences that would befall not only respondent No.2 but also her infant, both of whom would be left completely bereft of any support and sustenance if the petitioner were to be imprisoned, this court is persuaded to allow the present petition," the court concluded.
The judge quoted Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr to say that "the life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience" and remarked that the present case was a "compelling instance that brings into focus the prescient words of Justice Holmes, since it exposes the disconnect between a rigid legal construct and the human lives it seeks to govern."
In the judgement, Justice Bhambhani, however, cautioned that courts must be vigilant against offenders who use deceit to seek quashing of criminal proceedings, and it must, therefore, be ascertained that a victim, who "disclaims any loss or injury", is genuinely acting on her own free will and volition and has not been misled, pressurised or deceived into giving her no-objection.
Before quashing any criminal proceedings under the POCSO Act, the court must interact with the parties and arrive at a subjective satisfaction that the quashing of the case is warranted on larger considerations of justice and to prevent abuse of the process of law, the judgement said.
