The main legal point established is that the duty to report offences under the POCSO Act requires actual knowledge or reason to believe, and mere information or suspicion is not sufficient to attribute liability.

JUDGMENT :

Heard Mr. F.T. Mirza, the learned counsel for the applicants and Mrs. M.H. Deshmukh, the learned APP for the Respondent-State, at length.

2. The applicant in Criminal APL Nos.295/2017 and 296/2017 is one and the same, namely Kishor Sureschandra Darda. He is the Secretary of Jawaharlal Darda Education Society, Yavatmal, which inter alia manages and looks after Yavatmal Public School, Yavatmal. The applicant in APL No. 297/2017 was initially working as a teacher in the said School and at the relevant point of time, was working as a Coordinator in the School.

3. It appears that two first information reports (“FIRs”) were lodged by two parents against two teachers, namely, Amol Kshirsagar and Yash Borundia, working with the aforesaid School. The allegations in both the FIRs are identical, viz. those two teachers have molested girl-students of the school by moving their hands on their chests and by putting their hands inside undergarments. Accordingly, two FIRs came to be registered vide FIR Nos. 480/2016 and 489/2016. FIR No. 480/2016 is registered for offences punishable u/ss. 354 read with Sec. 8,10,12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (in short ‘POCSO Act’) and FIR No.489/2016 was registered u/ss. 376 (2)(f) and 354 of the IPC and sections 6, 8, 10,12 and 21 of the POCSO Act. The charge-sheet, however, was filed in both the cases for the offences punishable u/ss. 354, 354A, 376(2)(f) of Indian penal Code and Sections 6,8,10,21 of the POCSO Act and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (in short ‘J.J. Act’). So far as the applicants are concerned, they have been charge-sheeted for the offence punishable u/s. 21 of the POCSO Act and Section 75 of the JJ Act.

4. Section 21 of the POCSO Act provides as under:-

“21. Punishment for failure to report or record a case - (1) Any person, who fails to report the commission of an offence under sub-section (1) of Section 19 or Section 20 or who fails to record such offence under sub-section (2) of section 19 shall be punished with imprisonment of either description which may extend to six months or with fine or with both.

(2) Any person, being in-charge of any company or an institution (by whatever name called) who fails to report the commission of an offence under sub-section (1) of Section 19 in respect of a subordinate under his control, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and with fine.

(3) The provisions of sub-section(1) shall not apply to a child under this Act.”

Section 75 of the J.J. Act provides as under :

“75. Punishment for c ruelty to child – Whoever, having the actual charge of, or control over, a child, assaults, abandons, abuses, exposes or wilfully neglects the child or causes or procures the child to be assaulted, abandoned, abused, exposed or neglected in a manner likely to cause such child unnecessary mental or physical suffering, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extent to three years or with fine of one lakh rupees or with both :

Provided that in case it is found that such abandonment of the child by the biological parents is due to circumstances beyond their control, it shall be presumed that such abandonment is not wilful and the penal provisions of this section shall not apply in such cases:

Provided further that if such offence is committed by any person employed by or managing an organization, which is entrusted with the care and protection of the child, he shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment which may extend up to five years, and fine which may extent up to five lakhs rupees.

Provided also that on account of the aforesaid cruelty, if the child is physically incapacitated or develops a mental illness or is rendered mentally unfit to perform regular tasks or has risk to life or limb, such person shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment, not less than three years but which may be extended up to ten years and shall also be l