ORDER :

1. This petition has been filed by the sole accused in SC No. 6/2017 on the file of the Special Judge, Fast Track, Perinthalmanna (Manjeri Sessions Division), challenging an order dated 03.03.2021 in Crl. M.P. No. 33/2021 in that case. Crl. M.P. No. 33/2021 was an application filed by the Special Public Prosecutor under Section 311 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (‘the Code’) praying that the Court may be pleased to summon and examine the Municipal Secretary of Perinthalmanna Municipality for proving the contents of a birth certificate, to prove the age of a victim in the trial of a case, registered under the provisions of Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and the applicable provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

2. The Learned Sessions Judge considered the application and the objections raised by the learned Counsel for the accused and found that, in the absence of any specific provision in the POCSO Act and the Rules framed thereunder for determination of the age of victims of sexual offences, it is settled law that the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000(the ‘Juvenile Justice Act’) ar