SC spares Pocso convict to aid victim, now wife

SC RULED THE VICTIM, NOW MARRIED TO THE CONVICT WITH A CHILD, SUFFERED MORE FROM LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

- Ayesha Arvind

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday chose not to jail a man convicted of rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, ruling that the victim—now married to him with a child—had suffered more from the legal proceedings than from the original offence.

A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan made the rare move to invoke Article 142 of the Constitution, which empowers the apex court to do "complete justice" by taking any decision in order to suspend the sentence while upholding the conviction. The ruling was one of 11 involving justice Oka, who retired on Friday.

"In the context of this situation, sadly, true justice lies in not sentencing the accused to undergo imprisonment," the court said, emphasising that the case would not serve as precedent. "This case is not going to be a precedent and should not be a precedent. This case is an illustration of the complete failure of our society our legal system."