LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court said that the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, which was enacted to save the minors from sexual exploitation, had now become a tool for the same.
Emphasising that the Act was never meant to criminalise consensual romantic relationships between adolescents, the bench of Justice Krishan Pahal said that the fact of a consensual relationship borne out of love should be considered while granting bail.
Justice Pahal said that it would amount to perversity of justice if the statement of the victim was ignored and the accused was left to suffer in jail.
The bench made those observations while granting bail to a 18-year-old boy booked under Sections 137(2), 87, 65(1) of BNS and 3/4(2) of POCSO Act for allegedly committing rape of a 16-year-old girl.
Meanwhile, the lawyer of the accused, who was arrested in March this year, had submitted before the court that it was a case of consensual relationship and that there was no medical corroboration of the incident.
The lawyer of the accused also contended in the court that there was no criminal antecedent of the applicant and if he was released on bail, he would not misuse the liberty.
The court, however, granted the accused bail while considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the evidence on record and taking into consideration the inordinate delay of 15 days in registering the FIR and the absence of medical corroboration of the incident.