The court exercised discretion under Section 427 CrPC to allow concurrent sentences for similar offences, emphasizing the importance of the heinous nature of offences under the POCSO Act.

CRL.A. 600/2020 & CRL.A. 196/2022 & CRL.A. 70/2022 & CRL.M.A. 21647/2022 in CRL.A. 196/2022 & CRL.M.A. 21910/2022 in CRL.A.70/2022

1. CRL.M.A. 21647/2022 in CRL.A. 196/2022 and CRL.M.A. 21910/2022 in CRL.A. 70/2022 have been filed by the appellant/applicant under Section 427 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) seeking concurrent running of sentences awarded to the appellant in the above captioned appeals.

2. In CRL.A. 600/2020, vide order dated 21st December, 2019 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ), West, Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi, the appellant was convicted for the offences under Sections 448 /354/354C/506 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE , 1860 ( IPC ) and Section 10 /12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of five years along with a cumulative fine of Rs. 19,000/- vide order on sentence dated 23rd December, 2019.

3. In CRL.A.196/2022, vide order dated 21st December, 2019 passed by the learned ASJ, the appellant was convicted for the offences under Section 354 of the IPC and Section 8 of the POCSO Act and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of three years along with a cumulative fine of Rs.10,000/- vide order on sentence dated 23rd December, 2019.

4. In CRL.A.70/2022, vide order dated 21st December, 2019 the learned ASJ convicted the appellant for the offences punishable under Sections 506 /509 of the IPC and Section 12 of the POCSO Act and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for a period of one year along with a cumulative fine of Rs. 3,000 vide order on sentence dated 23rd December, 2019.

5. In all the present appeals, vide order dated 18th May, 2023, production warrants were issued for the appellant to be present before this Court to seek instructions from him regarding whether he wishes to contest the present appeals on merits.

6. On 2nd August, 2023, the appellant appeared from jail through video conferencing before this Court and submitted that he was willing to accept his infractions and agreed to the disposal of the present appeals on the basis of the sentence undergone by him. Further, to examine the socio-economic conditions of the appellant, a probation officer was appointed by the Court.

7. Mr. Rohan J. Alva, counsel for the appellant submits that in the present case discretion should be exercised by the Court under Section 427 of the CrPC and the various sentences awarded to the appellant should run concurrently. It is submitted that the offences in the present case should be taken to be a part of one transaction since the same offence of a sexual nature has been committed on the same victim on different dates. Furthermore, the convicting and sentencing court in the present case are the same. In this regard, reliance has been placed on the judgment of the Co-ordinate Bench in Ajay Kumar v. State NCT of Delhi , 2023 SCC OnLine Del 962.

8. Per contra, learned APP appearing for the State submits that in view of the fact that the appellant has been convicted for three separate offences under the POCSO Act, discretion under Section 427 of the CrPC should not be exercised in his favour. He submits that the POCSO Act is a special legislation for protection of children against sexual offences. In this regard, reliance is placed on the judgment of the Supreme Court in Nawabuddin v. State of Uttarakhand , (2022) 5 SCC 419 .

9. Considering the legal and factual issues at hand, this Court