The Sikkim High Court has held that criminal proceedings under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cannot be quashed merely because the survivor has attained majority and subsequently settled the matter with the accused.
The Bench of Justice Bhaskar Raj Pradhan made the observation while dismissing a petition seeking quashing of criminal proceedings arising from an alleged sexual offence committed when the survivor was 17 years old. The accused was around 19 at the time of the alleged incident.
The case arose from an FIR registered at Sadar Police Station, Gangtok, concerning an alleged sexual offence committed on November 26, 2022. The accused was facing charges under the POCSO Act and Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code.
During the pendency of the trial, the families of the accused and the survivor entered into a compromise. By then, the survivor had attained majority. The accused, survivor and their respective parents subsequently approached the High Court under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), seeking quashing of the FIR and criminal proceedings.
The High Court, however, held that the subsequent settlement could not override the statutory framework of the POCSO Act, under which a person below 18 years is a child and cannot give legally valid consent to sexual activity.
The Court relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Re: Right to Privacy of Adolescents, which had clarified that even where an accused and a survivor who has subsequently attained majority enter into a settlement, prosecution for offences under POCSO cannot be quashed on that basis.
The Court also acknowledged the potentially severe consequences for the accused but held that such considerations could not override binding Supreme Court precedent.
Accordingly, the High Court rejected the petition and directed that its order be sent to the Special POCSO Court at Gangtok. It left it open to the parties to approach the Supreme Court for appropriate relief.
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