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IN THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) KOHIMA BENCH
MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA, KAUSHIK GOSWAMI
Ram Lochan Choudhury, S/o. Late Jaleswar Choudhury – Appellant
Versus
State Of Assam And Anr. Represented By The Public Prosecutor, Assam – Respondent
Judgment :
M. Zothankhuma, J.
1. Heard Mr. P.K. Munir, learned counsel for the appellant and Mr. R. R. Kaushik, learned Additional Public Prosecutor, Assam for the State. Mr. K. P. Pathak, learned counsel appears for the respondent No. 2.
2. This is an appeal against the judgment dated 26.09.2023 passed by the learned Special Judge, POCSO at Golaghat in Special POCSO Case No.25/2022, arising out of Golaghat P.S. Case No.69/2022, by which the appellant had been convicted under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, 2012 and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life with a fine of Rs.50,000/-, in default, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 3 (three) months.
3. The case against the appellant is that he had raped the victim girl who was an alleged minor, due to which the appellant has been convicted under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, 2012. The ossification test that had been conducted on the victim shows that she was between 16 and 18 years during the time the incident of rape had occurred. Keeping in view the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Ram Suresh Singh vs. Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu & Another, reported in (2009) 6 SCC 681 and Jyoti Prakash Rai @ Jyoti Prakash vs. State of
The conviction under the POCSO Act was overturned due to lack of corroborative evidence and DNA results disproving paternity, emphasizing the necessity for reliable witness testimony in sexual crime ....
The legal principle established in the judgment is that the court may rely on evidence such as DNA testing to establish the guilt of the accused, and the benefit of the doubt may be rejected based on....
(1) In order to attract offence under POCSO Act prosecution has to establish that victim girl is a child as defined under Section 2(1)(d) of POCSO Act.(2) It is highly unsafe to convict a person only....
The court established that in cases involving minors, consent is irrelevant to sexual offences, with the victim's age determined primarily through school records, highlighting strict legal protection....
The court emphasized the necessity of valid evidence for victim age determination and the unsuitability of applying deleted provisions of law for conviction, thereby affirming the need for due proces....
The prosecution must prove foundational facts of age and sexual assault beyond reasonable doubt, even with statutory presumptions under the POCSO Act.
The court ruled that without credible evidence or reliable testimony, suspicion alone cannot support a conviction under the POCSO Act.
The victim's testimony, if found reliable, can form the sole basis for conviction under the POCSO Act, and legal presumption against the accused places the burden of rebuttal on the defense.
The court affirmed that the victim's testimony, corroborated by DNA evidence, is sufficient for conviction in sexual assault cases, emphasizing the need for sensitivity in evaluating such evidence.
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