Delhi High Court quashes rape, POCSO FIR against man who married minor girl with her consent

The Delhi High Court recently quashed a 2015 rape case against a man on finding that he had married the 'victim' girl (minor at the time of marriage, now a major) with her consent and that they were now happily married with two children [Sonu @ Sunil v State of NCT of Delhi & Ors]..Justice Navin Chawla passed the judgment after noting that the lives of the married couple as well as their children would be ruined if the prosecution were to be continued against the accused man.The Bench said that even though the girl was a minor when she eloped and got married, she has maintained that she was happily married to the accused and that they even had two children.“In such a scenario, to continue to prosecute the petitioner would in fact be to punish the respondent no.3 [the girl], who the law sees as a victim. It would also punish the two children for no fault of theirs. It will ruin four lives and no person shall gain therefrom,” the Court observed..The Court was dealing with a plea filed by a man named Sonu @ Sunil who had married a girl in the year 2015 when she was allegedly 16 years of age. The girl and Sonu were in a relationship.Sonu was booked in a criminal case under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offices Act (POCSO Act), and Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as the Child Marriage Act. The filing of this case was challenged by him before the High Court, which allowed his plea. .In a detailed judgment, the Bench noted that of late, the courts are faced with petitions where children who are about to attain the age of majority commit acts in the name of "love", unaware that such acts amount to offences under the Child Marriage Act, the POCSO Act, and the IPC.Though being minor, their consent is immaterial, factually their consent is there, the Court pointed out. In such cases, the courts are generally inclined to quash the criminal case, the Bench observed. “The Courts when faced with such a dilemma, has been adopting the route of exercising its power under Section 482 of the CrPC, to quash such criminal proceedings where it finds that the girl was nearing the age of majority; had gone with the boy of her own free will (though it may be immaterial in law); is happily living with the boy, either in matrimony or otherwise, after attaining the age of majority; and in some circumstances where such relationship has also resulted in children being born. The Court, in such circumstances, is persuaded to save the lives of such an accused, rather than to make him undergo trial and eventual punishment, which would not only ruin innocent lives of the parties to such a relationship, but may be, also of the children that are born therefrom," the Court said. .Advocates KK Tyagi and Nishant Kumar Tyagi appeared for the petitioner *(accused), Sonu.Additional Public Prosecutor Priyanka Dalal represented the Delhi Police.Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa acted as amicus curiae. He was assisted by advocates Prabhav Ralli and Sanskriti Shakuntala Gupta. .[Read Judgment]