The court emphasized the need to consider the individual nature of offences and the implications of the POCSO Act on cases involving teenagers in love affairs.

JUDGMENT

(Prayer : Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code, praying to call for the records in Special C.C.No.83 of 2021 pending on the file of the Special Court for exclusive trial of cases under POCSO Act, Coimbatore and quash the same.)

This Criminal Original Petition has been filed to quash the proceedings in Spl.S.C.No. 83 of 2021 on the file of the learned Special Court for exclusive trial of cases under POCSO Act, Coimbatore for the offences under sections 366, 376(3) of IPC, Section 5[I], 5[j], [ii],[q] and 6 of POCSO Act 2012 and Section 9 of Prohibition of Child Marriages Act, 2006

2. The allegation in the final report indicates that the petitioner and the 3rd respondent/victim girl herein had love affair and got married on 11.06.2019. At the time of their marriage, the 3rd respondent had not attained her majority. Further, on 10.06.2020, the 3rd respondent was admitted in CMC hospital and she begot a child. Hence, the 2nd respondent/mother of the victim girl had lodged a complaint against the petitioner and a case has been registered in Crime No.1237 of 2020 and charge sheet has been filed and the same was taken on file in Special.S.C.No.83 of 2021 for the offences as stated above.

3.  An Affidavit has been filed before this Court, which has been signed by the petitioner, 2nd and 3rd respondent and their respective counsel. Now, the petitioner, the 2nd and 3rd respondent and her 2 year old child appeared before this Court and they were identified by the respective counsel and Mr.M.Natarajan/Special Sub-Inspector of Police. Both of them submitted that they are married on 11.06.2019 and living happily together now. This Court also enquired both the parties and was satisfied that the parties have come to an amicable settlement between themselves.

4. In this regard, it is relevant to refer the judgment of the learned Single Judge of this Court, in Sabari v. Inspector of Police reported in 2019 (3) MLJ Crl 110, wherein the learned single Judge had discussed in detail about the cases in which persons of the age group of 16 to 18 years are involved in love affairs and how in some cases ultimately end up in a criminal case booked for an offence under the POSCO Act. The relevant portions of the judgment are extracted here under for proper appreciation:

21. When this case was taken up for hearing, this Court became concerned about the growing incidence of offences under the POCSO Act on one side and also the Rigorous Imprisonment envisaged in the Act. Sometimes it happens that such offences are slapped against teenagers, who fall victim of the application of the POCSO Act at an young age without understanding the implication of the severity of the enactment.

26. In addition to the above, this Court is of the view that -warning- of attraction of POCSO Act must be displayed before screening of any film, which have teenage characters suggesting relationship between boy and girl.

27. Apart from the above, this Court is of the view that as per the 3rd respondent-s report, majority of cases are due to relationship between adolescent boys and girls. Though under Section 2(d) of the Act, -Child- is defined as a person below the age of 18 years and in case of any love affair between a girl and a boy, where the girl happened to be 16 or 17 years old, either in the school final or entering the college, the relationship invariably assumes the penal character by subjecting the boy to the rigorous of POCSO Act. Once the age of the girl is established in such relationship as below 18 years, the boy involved in the relationship is sure to be sentenced 7 years or 10 years as minimum imprisonment, as the case may be.

28. When the girl below 18 years is involved in a relationship with the teen age boy or little over the teen age, it is always a question mark as to how such relationship could be defined, though such relationship would be the result of mutual