By Praneetha Shivaprasad

A single-judge bench of the Orissa High Court has quashed 5 cases instituted under the POCSO Act because the survivors and petitioners in all cases were married. While examining if the court can quash the proceedings instituted under POCSO Act the court noted that the intent of the Act was never to criminalize consensual sex between young adults. The court went on to note that the POCSO Act has been used vindictively and the application of the law is contradictory to Muslim personal laws and the culture of certain tribal communities. The court noted that the age of the victim, nature of the offence, consequences of the offence, nature of the relationship and effect upon the victim and more have to be considered by the court during a petition to quash proceedings. Although the court noted that in one of the five cases the offence seems to be borne out of forcible sexual acts, all five cases before the court was quashed since “the real life situation of the victims of the POCSO offences have turned out to be in the best interest of the victims”. The court stated that when the accused married the victim and started a family, it mitigated the “societal perspective in the forms of loss of reputation, dignity, and diminished chances of marriage for the victim” and had the added effect of “reforming the accused”. (CRLMC No. 3460 of 2023)

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