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Flags in POCSO Cases, Directs New Guidelines
The has granted to a young man accused under the while issuing a strong warning against the misuse of to show victims as minors. Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal directed the , to formulate guidelines for the issuance of school within two months, after uncovering a clear case of during the hearing.
Granted in POCSO Case Amid Age Dispute
The case involved Shivam Yadav @ Chhotu, who was arrested on , under Sections 65(1), 137(2), 87 and for allegedly enticing away a minor girl. The central controversy revolved around the victim's age. An indicated she was between 18 and 20 years old, a finding that would normally rule out the applicability of POCSO protections for minors below 18.
However, the prosecution relied on a from showing the victim's date of birth as , which placed her below the age of consent. This contradiction prompted the court to summon the headmaster for verification.
Forged Uncovered
When the headmaster appeared before the court on , he stated that the date of birth had been entered based on a purportedly issued by . The court then directed the Investigating Officer to verify that certificate. The response was damning: the headmaster of explicitly stated that the victim was never enrolled there and that the alleged was never issued by his institution.
"This Court came across a number of cases... where the parents of the victim submitted
, like transfer certificates or letters of the Headmaster, showing the age of the victim below 18 years to attract the stringent provisions of the
,"
the court observed. The judge concluded that the
, being based on a forged document, could not be considered, leaving the
as the only reliable evidence of age.
Court Flags Misuse of
In a strongly worded passage, Justice Deshwal declared:
"These incidents show clear misuse of the
just to punish a boy by the parents of the victim girl, who herself left her house being in a romantic relationship."
The court noted that the victim, in her statements under
, had clearly stated that she left home of her own free will and accompanied the applicant because she was in a relationship with him. The medical examination also showed no signs of injury or assault.
The applicant's counsel highlighted these facts, along with the absence of any criminal history and the filing of the , to argue against the need for further . The state and the first informant could not dispute these submissions.
Directives for
The court referred to , which sets out a : first, the school or matriculation certificate; second, the birth certificate from municipal or panchayat authorities; and only in the absence of these, an . The court noted that in many cases where victims lack matriculation certificates, the school-issued date-of-birth certificate becomes the decisive document—but the lack of a prescribed format for such certificates has led to widespread abuse.
"The absence of a prescribed format or procedure for issuance of such certificates had been widely misused, resulting in the false implication of several young boys,"
the court observed. To address this, Justice Deshwal directed the Principal Secretary, Basic Education, Uttar Pradesh, to issue guidelines including a standard format for issuing
for students who have not passed matriculation, as well as the documents required from parents at the time of admission.
Final Decision and Implications
Granting , the court noted the overcrowding of jails and the heavy pendency of criminal cases, citing the 's judgment in Kapil Wadhawan vs Central Bureau of Investigation (2025) and the High Court's own guidelines in Maya Tiwari vs State of U.P. (2024). The applicant was ordered released on furnishing a , subject to conditions including cooperation in trial, not tampering with evidence, and abstaining from criminal activity.
The court directed the trial court to use the Order Management System (BOMS) for early release and ordered copies of the order to be sent to the jail and trial court via e-mode within 24 hours. The ruling serves as a significant check on the manipulation of age records in POCSO cases and is expected to lead to more robust safeguards against the misuse of the law.
