The interpretation of Sections 19, 20, and 21 of the POCSO Act was crucial in determining the liability of the accused for failure to report offences, leading to their discharge for certain charges.

JUDGMENT

Manish Pitale, J. - These Revision Applications arise out of orders passed by the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, Amravati, whereby applications of some of the Accused seeking discharge have been rejected while one application has been partly allowed. Since the incident in the present case concerns all the accused persons and the allegations levelled against them arise out of provisions of the same statutes, all the applications are being disposed of by this common judgment.

2. The First Information Report (FIR) in the present case was registered on 11.04.2013, at the behest of one of the victims of sexual assault at the hands of accused no.1. The victim/informant/Complainant along with other girl students, was resident of Shraddhanand Ladies Hostel, Shivaji Nagar, Amravati, where the Accused no.1 was working as watchman. According to the informant, during Diwali time, in the year 2013, when she made a phone call to her mother from a pay phone in the Hostel, the accused no.1 snatched the receiver of the phone from the informant and sexually assaulted her. The accused threatened the informant that if she told anybody about the incident, he would kill her. It is alleged that on the next day also, the accused no.1 made advances towards the informant but she went away to her hostel room. The informant told her hostel mates about the incident. Thereafter, when the mother of the informant was informed about the incident, she took the informant and other hostel mates to the Superintendent of the Hostel i.e. accused no.2 and the description of the incident was given in writing, whereafter, the informant, her mother and the other girl students of the hostel returned to their rooms.

3. It is then alleged that in December, on a particular day, when a girl student and resident of the hostel went to answer a phone call from her mother, the accused no.1 said that the phone was disconnected and thereafter, he forcibly had sexual intercourse with the minor girl. He threatened her not to inform anybody about the incident. But, when the said minor victim told other girl students in the hostel, they again contacted the accused no. 2-Superintendent of the hostel. The accused no.2, then took 5 to 6 girls in the night to the accused no.3 i.e. the President of the Shivaji Education Society, managing the Educational Institution and the hostel, to narrate the incident. The accused no.3 allegedly did not take the complaint and instead directed that a written complaint be submitted. According to the informant, a written complaint was indeed submitted by her and the other minor girl victims through the accused no.2 i.e. Superintendent of the hostel. It is alleged that thereafter, the examination of the Xth standard took place and the girls left for their homes.

4. It appears that neither accused no.2 i.e. Superintendent of the Hostel nor the President of the said Management i.e. accused no.3, took steps to lodge any police complaint in the matter. The accused no. 4 i.e. Secretary of the said Management, also did not take any steps to lodge the police complaint. Instead, an internal inquiry was conducted and, according to the accused nos. 3 and 4, the accused no.2, Superintendent of the Hostel and the accused no.1, Watchman, were dismissed from service. Since the incident had been reported in the media and a huge controversy was created, the Social Welfare Department directed the accused nos. 3 and 4 to take all necessary steps on behalf of the Management. It seems that pursuant to such directions, on 02.04.2013, the accused no.4 i.e. Secretary of the Management, submitted a written complaint to the concerned Police Station. But it was only when the victim/informant approached the police on 11.04.2013, that the FIR stood registered in the Gadge Nagar Police Station at Amravati, against the accused no. 1 for offences under Section 376 and 506(b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 3(1)(xii) and 4 of Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Pre