Karnataka HC says POCSO Act cannot be invoked against adolescents in love

The Karnataka High Court dismissed a case against a boy who was a minor at the time of the complaint, stating that the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cannot be invoked, and calling it an instance of “romantic love between a boy and a girl of the age of adolescence.” The HC found that the two minors had indulged in sexual acts but it would not amount to a crime as envisioned under POCSO Act. The High Court made the observation when ordering the dismissal of a case brought under the POCSO Act against a 16-year-old boy who eloped with a 16-year-old girl.

Justice M Nagaprasanna quashed the proceedings pending in a lower court against the boy who was a minor when the complaint was filed in December 2021. The High Court allowed a compromise settlement between the families of two minors who had engaged in a sexual act leading to the boy being charged under POCSO Act. The boy and girl, who were classmates, had reportedly eloped. After the complaint was filed, they were found together in another district. The boy was charged with rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under Section 5 of the POCSO Act.

While the case was pending in a lower court, the High Court was recently approached to quash the case. The families of the two youngsters had arrived at a settlement and did not want to pursue the case. The HC noted that in this eventuality the boy would be acquitted eventually. "I deem it appropriate to take note of the settlement, accept it and free the petitioner from the mesh of crime he is enmeshed in, failing which, the future of a student would be put in insurmountable jeopardy," the court said.

The HC found that the two minors had indulged in sexual acts but it would not amount to a crime as envisioned under POCSO Act. "A romantic love between a boy and a girl of the age of adolescence, sometimes arising out of infatuations, results in the boy embroiling himself into the vortex of the provisions of the POCSO Act. In these peculiar facts, I deem it appropriate to take note of the settlement," the judge said.

While the lower court proceedings were quashed, the HC pointed out that youngsters are not aware of POCSO. "The act has been done in the frenzy of youth, owing to human curiosity coupled with biological cravings. These acts are entirely different from those which become offences under Section 5, which deals with aggravated penetrative sexual assault. These provisions are not known to students, who are themselves, minors and get infatuated," it said.