Can bail be granted on the basis of the statements of the victim who is 16-year-old and whether she is mature enough to understand the consequences of her acts?

John Franklin Shylla Vs. State of Meghalaya & Anr.(2023

Crl. Petn. No. 3/2023

High Court of Meghalaya, Shilong

Question involved:

Can bail be granted on the basis of the statements of the victim who is 16-year-old and whether she is mature enough to understand the consequences of her acts?
Whether the accused petitioner has committed sexual assault on the victim?

Answer:

Here the petitioner submitted to the Court with an application under Section 482 Cr.P.C with a prayer to set aside and quash the entire proceedings before the Court of the learned Special Judge for violations of Sections 3(a) and 4 of the 2012 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The court granted the bail to the accused petitioner and quashed the pending case in trial court as it was observed by the court that there was no sexual assault committed by the accused.

There is no element of sexual assault involved in the whole episode, inasmuch as, the alleged victim herself in her statement under Section 164 as well as in her deposition before the Court, had clearly stated that she was the girlfriend of the petitioner at the relevant point of time and that it was only on that fateful night on 18.01.2021 that they had sexual intercourse, but the same was with her consent and there was no force involved in it. Since there is no evidence of any penetrative sexual assault, hence the court ordered for the proceedings against him to be set aside and quashed.

Ratio let down:

In the present case the court has drawn its ratio by refereeing to the case of Vijayalakshmi & Anr. v. State Rep. By. Inspector of Police, All Women Police Station, Erode: Crl. O.P No. 232 of 2021, para 12 & 18 where the High Court of Madras has observed that,

“12. Incidences where teenagers and young adults fall victim to offences under the POCSO Act being slapped against them without understanding the implication of the severity of the enactment is an issue that brings much concern to the conscience of this Court. A reading of the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the POCSO Act would show that the Act was brought into force to protect children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography, pursuant to Article 15 of the Constitution of India, 1950 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, a large array of cases filed under the POCSO Act seems to be those arising on the basis of complaints registered by the families of adolescents and teenagers who are involved in romantic relationships with each other. The scheme of the Act clearly shows that it did not intend to bring within its scope or ambit, cases of the nature where adolescents or teenagers involved in romantic relationships are concerned. 18. Punishing an adolescent boy who enters into a relationship with a minor girl by treating him as an offender, was never the objective of the POCSO Act. An adolescent boy and girl who are in the grips of their hormones and biological changes and whose decision making ability is yet to fully develop, should essentially receive the support and guidance of their parents and the society at large. These incidents should never be perceived from an adult’s point of view and such an understanding will in fact lead to lack of empathy. An adolescent boy who is sent to prison in a case of this nature will be persecuted throughout his life. It is high time that the legislature takes into consideration cases of this nature involving adolescents involved in relationships and swiftly bring in necessary amendments under the Act. The legislature has to keep pace with the changing societal needs and bring about necessary changes in law and more particularly in a stringent law such as the POCSO Act.”

Hence the court ruled out that, the victim who was even though a minor in the eyes of law, was mature and understood what she was doing as well as the nature of her relationship with the accused petitioner, therefore as there was no evidence of sexual assault and mens rea the court granted bail to the accused.

*This is just a summarised version, the link for reading the full case is: https://images.assettype.com/barandbench-hindi/2023-06/f86922bb-a656-48ab-9458-da2e322f70c5/John_Franklin_Shylla_v__State_of_Meghalaya_and_Another__1_.pdf or you can visit the official website of High Court of Meghalaya.