The issue of Supreme Court POCSO misuse came into focus as the Court warned that families are increasingly using the Act to target consensual teenage couples. Families are incorrectly using the POCSO Act against consensual teenage relationships, which has caused concern among Justices Sanjay Karol and NK Singh of the Supreme Court. The justices found that many parents, who do not approve of consanguinity and other family relationships, abuse the POCSO Act by using it as a weapon against their children’s romantic choices.
They noted that some families even misrepresent the actual age of the victim girl so they can implicate the male accused kid for the harsh penalties associated with a POCSO violation. The justices said that this unjustifiable conduct irreparably damages the lives of the affected teenagers and skews the intent of the POCSO legislation, which was created to protect vulnerable children. The justices asked all lawyers to fulfill their professional obligation and to discourage clients from submitting false policereports that are primarily motivated by revenge or social pressures.
SC Rejects Allahabad HC’s Directions on Age Tests
The Supreme Court of India has overturned instructions by a High Court in cases concerning child sexual abuse under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). The instructions required age-determination medical tests to be conducted at the outset of POCSO investigations, in addition to permitting bail courts to conduct inquiries into age by means of school or birth certificates.
The Supreme Court ruled that bail courts should not conduct what would amount to “mini-trials” of the facts of a case or disregard the procedures established in Indian law for investigating and prosecuting crime in India. The Court stated that the rules concerning the mandatory requirement for determining the age of an individual when deciding bail should be applied before any order for the taking of medical tests. The Court made it clear to future bail courts that they must follow the established procedures regarding investigations while deciding whether to grant bail to a defendant.
Court Seeks Romeo–Juliet Clause to Prevent POCSO Misuse
After correcting the High Court, the Bench also commented on the increasing misuse of the POCSO Act in dealing with consensual sexual relationships between adolescents in India. The Justices indicated that India needs to legislate to protect such respective consensual relationships through some type of “Romeo–Juliet clause”, similar to that which exists in many countries, where couples who are within a few years of age apart are not treated as being subjects of statutory rape.
The growing concerns over Supreme Court POCSO misuse show the urgent need for legal clarity and balanced protections. The Court requested the Central Government to engage in a study of how best to address this issue in order to be able to make recommendations for possible amendments to the legislation. Additionally, the Court requested that the Central Government create punishment(s) for those who file false POCSO cases. The determination also identified the need for better legal guidance in order to protect the true victims while also avoiding unjustly criminalizing those who are not victims.
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