Criminal proceedings under POCSO and BNS may be quashed by the High Court if the accused and victim have subsequently married and are living happily, as continuing the prosecution would cause undue harassment and serve no useful purpose.

THIS CRL.P IS FILED U/S 528 BNSS PRAYING TO QUASH THE ENTIRE PROCEEDINGS IN SPL.C (POCSO) NO. 173/2025 (CRIME NO. 205 OF HOLALKERE P.S.) ON THE FILE OF II ADDL. DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE, CHITRADURGA FOR THE OFFENCE PUNISHABLE UNDER SECTION 64(2) OF THE Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha, 2023 , SECTIONS 4, 6 OF POCSO ACT AND SECTION 9 OF PROHIBITION OF CHILD MARRIAGE ACT.

THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR ORDERS, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.NAGAPRASANNA

ORAL ORDER

The petitioner is before this Court seeking the following prayer:

“Wherefore the petitioner above named most humbly pray that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to quash the entire proceedings in Spl.C (POCSO) No.173/2025 (Crime No.205 of Holalkere P.S.) on the file of II Addl.District and Sessions Judge, Chitradurga for the offence punishable Under Section 64(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha, 2023 , Section 4, 6 of POCSO Act and Section 9 of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, in the interest of justice.”

Heard Sri.Gireesha J.T., learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, Sri.Channappa Erappa, learned HCGP appearing for respondent No.1, Sri.Pavan Kumar G, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.2 and have perused the material on record.

The petitioner and respondent No.2 are accused and the victim. They are before the Court seeking quashment of the proceedings on the score of that they are married and are living happily. A certificate of marriage is appended to the petition. The marriage is said to have registered on 01.03.2026 after the victim has attained 18 years of age. The parties have preferred an application seeking compounding of the offence and closure of the proceedings on account of marriage between the two.

The Apex Court in the case of Mahesh Mukund Patel v. State of Uttar Pradesh , 12025 SCC OnLine SC 614 has held as follows:

The second respondent is the first informant at whose instance, a First Information Report was registered on 18th September, 2016 for the offences punishable under Sections 354A, 363, 366, 376 of the Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 3 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (for short, ‘POCSO Act’). The third respondent is the victim of the offence. As can be seen from the allegations in the First Information Report (FIR), the alleged incident is of September, 2016. In the FIR, the second respondent has alleged that the age of the victim was 17 years.

Our attention was invited to the marriage certificate issued by the Registrar of Hindu Marriages and Sub-Registrar, Varanasi which records that the marriage between the appellant and third respondent has been solemnized on 5th December, 2016. The date of birth of the third respondent - victim is shown therein as 20th July, 1998. It is also brought on record that from the wedlock between the appellant and the third respondent, two children have been born whose documents have been produced along with Criminal Miscellaneous Petition No. 10906 of 2025.

On the last date, we had directed learned counsel appearing for the State to get the marriage certificate relied upon by the parties duly verified. Accordingly, an affidavit has been filed by Dr. Atul Tripathi, ACP, Sarnath in which it is stated that the marriage certificate has been verified and it is found to be genuine and in fact a true copy thereof has been produced along with the affidavit.

Our attention is invited to the affidavit filed by the third respondent in which she has accepted the fact that she is happily married to the appellant and they have been residing together. She has disclosed her date of birth as 20th July, 1998. In the record of the Primary School, as can be seen from document at Annexure ‘P-1’, the date of birth of the third respondent is shown as 20th July, 1998. Ossification test was conducted during the investigation. The report of the test is that on the date of commission of the offence, the age of the third respondent may be between