Madhya Pradesh HC
BHOPAL/JABALPUR: The Madhya Pradesh high court has refused to interfere with the judgment of a Pocso court in Narmadapuram district awarding 20 years of rigorous imprisonment to a person accused of having sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, whom he married later. The couple now has a child.A division bench of Justices Vivek Agarwal and R K Choubey said the consent of a minor to a sexual relationship was immaterial, and a decision to suspend the sentence of a person convicted for rape under the Pocso Act could be taken only by Supreme Court exercising its power under Article 142 of the Constitution.Earlier, counsel for the appellant contended that coordinate benches granted relief of suspension of sentence even in the case of a 14-year-old girl, whereas in the present case, the age of the survivor was 17 and she was a consenting partner.The bench, however, stated that it was a “prerogative of the Supreme Court to take a call by exercising its authority under Article 142”.According to the prosecution’s case, on June 1, 2023, the rape survivor lodged a police complaint in Itarsi stating that she used to visit her grandmother and became acquainted with the appellant on one such visit. On Feb 14, 2023, he invited her to lunch at his house. There, he raped her and threatened to kill her if she disclosed it to anyone, she alleged, adding he blackmailed and raped her on three more occasions. The accused married the survivor when he came out on bail during the trial.The appellant’s counsel pleaded for leniency saying a son was born out of wedlock, and the survivor would be left to take care of him alone. The court, however, said since it was established that the survivor was a minor at the time, the accused could not be absolved of the charge.
