Supreme Court upholds conviction in Pocso case; stresses sensitivity in such cases

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday restored conviction and sentence of life term imposed upon two men for repeated rape of a minor girl, observing that the struggle for sensitivity towards offences against women, children and other marginalised groups passes through various phases of evolution, “whereas, the end goal is most desirable, the journey is not always a pleasant one”.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma allowed the appeal of the father of the girl and set aside the Patna High Court's judgment, saying natural variations, errors, and inconsistencies are not to be elevated to the standard of a reasonable doubt or to hold that the prosecution has failed.

"There is nothing like perfect evidence in a court and in fact, perfection is often suggestive of tutoring and manufacturing of evidence. The availability of evidence as well as the quality of evidence, are not open to judgment on any pre-determined parameters. For these aspects not only depend upon the quality of investigation but also upon the societal circumstances prevalent in the area of crime," the bench said.

They also depend upon the level of awareness, not only of the persons involved in the case but also of the members of the locality who often appear as witnesses, the court added.

"Therefore, the courts must be alive to the state of affairs on the ground and in that backdrop, it must examine whether the inconsistencies and gaps have been properly explained or not," the bench said.

Justice Sharma, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said despite the importance of procedural sanctity, it is always a matter of utter failure for the system as a whole when a culprit, that too of a heinous sexual offence, manages to walk free by entangling the victim in misapplication of procedural rules, without the knowledge of the victim and without any control of the victim.

“The present case presents one such illustration from a place called Piro, District Bhojpur, Bihar,” the court said.

The court pointed out that every instance of acquittal of an actual culprit revolts against the sense of security of society and acts as a blot on the criminal justice system.

Setting aside the 2024 verdict of the High Court, the court said that it often comes across cases where loose acquittals are recorded on the basis of minor inconsistencies, contradictions and deficiencies by elevating them to the standard of reasonable doubts.

The court said in the present case, a fairly consistent and creditworthy case of the prosecution has been discarded on what could only be termed as a misapplication of procedure.