On Monday, the Delhi High Court granted relief to a Physical Education Coach charged under Section-10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) on the grounds that the case put up doesn't amount to 'strong suspicion.' against the accused.
The petitioner-accused, PE Coach through his counsels Senior Advocate Sh. K.K Manan and Advocate Aashish George sought Revision of the impugned order on charge by the Trial Court passed in the purview of the FIR under which he was charged for the above-mentioned offense.
The FIR in the said case was registered at the instance of the father of the child victim' who accused that his son (a minor) has been sexually assaulted by the PE Coach on a trip to Imphal.
The Advocates for the petitioners argued that the petitioner had on several occasions accompanied various teams of boys and girls for various tournaments and had an impeccable record. They also showed that the petitioner had also received several awards such as the "best physical teacher award" and the "best coach award" in his field in sports and physical education.
The Advocates for the petitioner pleaded that the said allegations have been made on account of some misunderstanding and that that the victim and the complainant submitted an affidavit stating it has been duly settled with complainant though the same was not accepted. The Counsels for the petitioner alleged that the Trial Court passed the orders on charge without considering all the material placed by him in a mechanical fashion.
The Court upon analyzing the case concluded that there were various inconsistencies in the victim’s statements and the fact that none of boys in the team supported the case by the prosecution doesn't leads to a 'strong suspicion' of commission of against the acussed.
The Court also added:
"Apart from the plain inconsistency in the statements made against the petitioner, it is also necessary to bear in mind that at the material time when the offence is alleged to have occurred the entire team was being disciplined within the confines of a train compartment."
The Court also stressed on the said affidavit placed by him to the Trial Court:
"In addition, the complainant has also filed an affidavit indicating that the complaint was made on account of a misunderstanding, which now stands cleared"
The Court noted that it is necessary to examine the case as whether it leads to 'strong suspicion' or not in cases under Section-10 POCSO Act as once the charges get framed the Statutory Provisions under Section-29 and 30 of the Act gets implemented. It observed in this regard:
The allegations under the POCSO Act are serious and offence under the said enactment invites harsh punishments. Clearly, such provisions cannot be taken invoked in an un-profound manner."
"At the stage of framing charges , "the truth, veracity and effect of the evidence which the prosecutor proposes to adduce are not to be meticttlously judged. Nor is any weight to be attached to the probable defence of the Accused." State of Bihar v. Rumesh Singh, AIR 1977 SC 2018)."
"However it is necessary to evaluate whether the case put up raises a "strong suspicion which leads the Court to think that there is ground for presuming that the accused has committed an offence"( supra). It is also relevant to note that once charges are framed statutory presumptions under Section 29 and 30 of POCSO Act are applicable. In Section 29 of the POCSO Act, where a person is prosecuted for 'committing or abetting or attempting to commit any offence under Sections 3, 5, 7 and Section 9 of this Act, the Special Court shall presume, that such person has committed or abetted or attempted to commit the offence, as the case may be unless the contrary is proved." The reverse burden of proof makes is imperative for the court framing charges to carefully examine whether the material placed raises. a strong suspicion of commission of an offence."
The Court thus quashed the order on charge passed by the Trial Court against the petitioner.
The order has been passed by a single-Judge Bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru on 18-01-2021.
Read Order Here:
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