The POCSO Act establishes a presumption of guilt based on credible victim statements, shifting the burden of proof to the accused.

Order :

1. This application for bail under Section 439 Cr.P.C . (483 BNSS) has been filed by the petitioner who has been arrested in connection with F.I.R. No.163/2024 registered at Police Station Kolayat, District Bikaner for the offences under Section 137(2) of BNS and Section 9(m)/10 of POCSO.

2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Public Prosecutor. Perused the material available on record.

3. As per the prosecution story, the petitioner who is aged about 27 years, on 02.10.2024, around 6:30 pm, took the complainant’s four years old daughter namely ‘N’ under the pretext of offering her prasad. As per the prosecution, when the complainant and other family members of the victim ‘N’ started searching her, they found that the petitioner was trying to undress the minor girl.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case. The family members of the victim ‘N’, owing to some previous animosity between the parties has changed the entire narrative of the incident and have falsely roped the petitioner in a criminal case. It was further argued that the petitioner is an innocent person; the investigation against him has already been completed and the trial of the case will take sufficiently long time, therefore, the benefit of bail may be granted to the accused-petitioner.

5. Per Contra, learned Public Prosecutor has vehemently opposed the bail application. Learned Public Prosecutor submitted that looking to the gravity of the offences alleged to have been committed by the petitioner, the petitioner does not deserve any leniency. Learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the material available on record clearly indicates that at the time when the minor girl was discovered by her family members, the petitioner was trying to undress her with the bad intentions however, by the time he could have committed the sexual assault/rape upon the victim, the complainant and other persons of the village reached at the place and saved the minor girl. Learned Public Prosecutor thus prayed that in light of the facts of the present case, the petitioner be kept in judicial custody.

6. Having considered the rival submissions, facts and circumstances of the case, this Court prima facie finds that the victim ‘N’ and the complainant in their statements recorded under various Sections of BNSS, have clearly stated that the petitioner who is aged about 27 years, on the date of the alleged incident, took the victim ‘P’ under the pretext of offering her prasad and, thereafter, tried to undress her.

7. It is a settled law that the POCSO Act creates a presumption of guilt once the victim’s statements are found credible. The burden then shifts upon the petitioner to prove his innocence. This Court prima facie finds that in the present case, though an argument has been raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner has been roped in a false criminal case due to previous animosity between the parties, however, no material to substantiate this contention is available on record. On the contrary, the investigating agency during the course of the investigation have recorded the statements of a number of witnesses who had seen the petitioner committing the alleged offence. This Court prima facie does not find any reason to disbelieve the prosecution story at this stage.

8. As a consequence of the above discussion, the bail application is rejected. However, the petitioner shall be at liberty to file a fresh bail application after recording the statements of complainant- Birbal Singh and victim- ‘N’ before the competent criminal Court on priority basis.