'Love, not lust': Supreme Court quashes POCSO conviction

NEW DELHI: In an extraordinary exercise of its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, aimed at doing “complete justice,” the Supreme Court of India has quashed the conviction and sentence of a man found guilty under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Observing that “peculiar facts and circumstances” warranted compassion, a Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih allowed the appeal of a man, who had been sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, and five years under Section 366 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor girl.

The Justice Datta-led Bench noted that during the pendency of the appeal, the appellant and the victim, now adults, had married in May 2021 and were leading a “happy married life” with a one-year-old son.