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𝗣𝗢𝗖𝗦𝗢 𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗲, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗢𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗶 𝗛𝗖

The Delhi High Court has said that “the intention of The Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was to protect the children from sexual abuse and not criminalise consensual romantic relationships of young adults.”

Justice Jasmeet Singh made the observation in an order granting bail to an accused in a case registered under Sections 363/366/376 IPC & Sections 6/17 POCSO Act last year.

In this case, the victim was 17 years old in June 2021, she was married off to a man by her family but she did not want to stay with him. In October 2021, she came to the house of the accused, who was her friend, and he took her to Punjab where they married. Her father registered an FIR against the accused.

The accused was in judicial custody since December 31, 2021. His counsel last month told the court that the girl had earlier approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking protection from her parents.


“In my opinion the intention of POCSO was to protect children below the age of 18 years from sexual exploitation. It was never meant to criminalize consensual romantic relationships between young adults. However, this has to be seen from facts and circumstances of each case. There might be cases where the survivor of sexual offence, may under pressure or trauma be forced to settle,” said Justice Singh.

Perusing the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Singh said it shows that she had approached the high court out of her own will and made a statement there that her parents were threatening to cause harm to her and her husband.

“Thus, this is not a case where the girl was coerced into the relationship with the boy. In fact, Ms. ‘A’, herself went to the applicant’s house and asked him to marry her. The statement of the victim makes it clear that this is a romantic relationship between the two and that the sexual act involved between them was consensual,” said Justice Singh.

The court said although a minor’s consent does not have any legal bearing, the factum of a consensual relationship borne out of love should be of consideration while granting bail.

“To ignore the statement of the victim and let the accused suffer behind jail, in the present case, would otherwise amount to perversity of justice,” said the court.

“In the circumstances of the present case, the applicant is entitled to bail for the reasons enumerated above,” it added.

The court in the order referred to Madras High Court’s observations in Vijayalakshmi vs State wherein it was said that “what came to be a law to protect and render justice to victims and survivors of child abuse, can, become a tool in the hands of certain sections of the society to abuse the process of law”.

“This Court granted bail to the accused while taking into consideration the possibility of a reciprocal physical relationship between the accused and the minor victim. It has also laid down the parameters that are to be followed when considering bail of a person accused under the POCSO Act,” it added.

Title: AK vs STATE GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI AND ANR

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