“POCSO was formulated to protect children under the age of 18 years from sexual exploitation. Nowadays more often than not it has become a tool for their exploitation, ” the Court added.
The Allahabad High Court recently emphasized that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO Act) was never intended to classify consensual romantic relationships between teenagers as criminal offenses.
Justice Krishan Pahal further highlighted that while the Act was created to safeguard minors under 18 from sexual exploitation, it has regrettably been misused for the exploitation of children.
“POCSO was formulated to protect minors from sexual exploitation. However, it is increasingly being misused for that very purpose. The Act was never designed to criminalize consensual romantic relationships between adolescents,” stated an order issued by the Court on October 26.
The Court stressed that during bail petitions in POCSO cases, it is crucial for courts to assess whether the relationship was consensual and based on affection.
“The existence of a consensual relationship driven by love should be taken into account when granting bail, as it would be an injustice to disregard the victim’s statement and leave the accused behind bars,” the court’s order emphasized.
The Court’s observation came as it granted bail to a man accused of kidnapping and enticing a girl who was allegedly 15 years old based on her school certificates.
The defense counsel argued that the accused was falsely implicated in the crime and highlighted that no ossification test had been conducted on the girl to definitively confirm her age. The attorney further contended that the girl’s physical appearance suggested she was older than 15 years.
Considering factors such as the defendant’s clean criminal record, his detention since May 2023, the nature of the offense, the available evidence, and the victim’s statement, the court granted bail to the defendant. Advocate Dharm Singh Parmar represented the accused applicant.
It is noteworthy that various High Courts have weighed in on the importance of preventing the misuse of the POCSO Act to criminalize consensual romantic relationships between minors. The Madras High Court had reached a similar conclusion in 2021 when dismissing a POCSO case involving a man in his early twenties who had eloped with an adolescent girl. In February of the previous year, the Allahabad High Court had ruled that the POCSO Act does not apply to cases involving adolescents or teenagers engaged in a “romantic affair.” More recently, the Calcutta High Court called for the decriminalization of consensual sexual acts involving adolescents above the age of 16, emphasizing the need to strike a balance between “protecting” children and “criminalizing” adolescents.
