JUDGMENT :

Meenakshi Madan Rai, J.

1. The Appellant is before this Court assailing the Judgment dated 30.10.2018, of the Court of learned Special Judge, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, East Sikkim at Gangtok, in S.T. (POCSO) Case No. 19 of 2016. The Appellant having been convicted under Section 5(m) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (for short “the POCSO Act”) was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10(ten) years and to pay a fine of Rs.5000/- (Rupees five thousand) only, with a default clause of imprisonment vide the impugned Order on Sentence dated 31.10.2017.

2. The grounds raised before this Court are that the learned Trial Court failed to appreciate that “Sanu” uncle whose phone the Victim was playing with was in the same room where the offence was committed, despite which the Prosecution failed to cite him as a witness. Apparently, “Sanu” uncle did not wake up during the commission of the alleged incident or hear the cry of the prosecutrix, thereby lending suspicion to the veracity of the offence. Challenging the age of the Victim, it was contended that the birth certificate of the Victim was not fu