Supreme Court Invokes Article 142 to Quash POCSO Conviction for Matrimonial Harmony

While hearing an appeal against the conviction in a POCSO case the Supreme Court took unprecedented approach and invoked Article 142 of the Constitution of India which empowers the Supreme Court to to pass any decree or order necessary for doing "complete justice", thereby quashing a POCSO Conviction.

Case Background: The appellant, K. Kirubakaran, was convicted by the trial court for offences under Section 366 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act, receiving sentences of five and ten years respectively. When an appeal was made before the Madras High Court, it was dismissed in 2021.

Aggrived by the dismissal, the appellant aproached the Supreme Court, and during the pendency of the court proceedings, a significant personal development occurred: the appellant and the victim of the crime were solemnized in marriage.

When the news of marriage was placed before the Apex Court the Court directed the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority verified that the couple is now leading a peaceful life and has been blessed with a male child, now less than a year old.

After the verification, the Supreme Court observed that Observing that the act was born of love rather than lust and that the parties had since married and had a child. Prioritizing the welfare of the family unit and "complete justice" over the rigid application of criminal law the Apex Court allowed the appeal by invoking its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash the both the conviction and sentence in their entirety.

This decision was heavily influenced by an affidavit from the victim-wife expressing her total dependency on the appellant and a desire to maintain their familial stability.

The Apex Court held that ignoring the "cry of the appellant’s wife for compassion" would not serve the ends of justice, as continuing the incarceration would only punish the victim and the infant child.

Furthermore, the victim’s father appeared virtually to confirm he had no objection to the proceedings being brought to an end and while acknowledging the heinous nature of the charges, the Court concluded that the unique circumstances of the case demanded that the law yield to the cause of "complete justice" to prevent the irreparable destruction of a functional family unit.

Consequently, the quashing was made subject to a strict, lifelong condition: the appellant must not desert his wife or child and must maintain them with dignity.

BENCH: JUSTICE DIPANKAR DATTA AND JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH.