New Delhi, citing its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court quashed the conviction of a convict under the POCSO Act after observing that the victim married the accused on attaining the age of majority.
Article 142 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to issue any order necessary to achieve “full justice” in any case before it to ensure justice.
In this case, the man and woman fell in love while studying in the twelfth grade.
When he refused to marry her, she filed a complaint against the man which resulted in him being sentenced to 10 years in prison under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act for having physical relations with a minor.
The woman later married another man who left her days after he learned of her previous relationship.
While out on bail, the man reconciled with her, they got married and started living together.
After their marriage, the couple started living together after which the woman moved the Madras High Court seeking quashing of her husband’s conviction under the POCSO Act. But the Supreme Court rejected her request, prompting the couple to change the Supreme Court’s decision.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandorkar said that the appellant and the victim are free to live their lives peacefully in the society as a couple.
“Without going into the merits of the case, on the peculiar facts, we consider it appropriate to exercise our general power under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to set aside the judgment of conviction and sentence imposed on the appellant…for the charge under Section 5 of the POCSO Act and the appellant is acquitted of the charge,” the bench said.
The Supreme Court said that the order had been passed on the particular facts of the case and would not be treated as a precedent for any other purpose.
“Since the actual imprisonment sentence of the appellant has been suspended vide the Supreme Court order dated June 3, 2019, he need not surrender until asked to do so in any other case,” the bench added.
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