Pocso safeguards end once victim turns 18: HC

The Rajasthan high court has held that the special procedural safeguards available under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, especially the mode of cross-examination through judicial intermediation, do not apply once the prosecutrix attains the age of 18.

- Dinesh Bothra

JODHPUR:

Justice Farjand Ali, while deciding three criminal miscellaneous petitions, on Wednesday made it clear that protections under the Pocso Act are "intrinsically age-contingent and must be confined to those witnesses who fall within the statutory definition of 'child' as per Section 2(d) of the Act."

Accordingly, "once a child attains the age of majority during the pendency of trial, he/she no longer retains the status of a 'child,' and hence, the mandatory requirement of routing questions through the Special Court ceases to apply."

The court extended this reasoning to Section 37 of the Act as well, which mandates in-camera trials and the presence of a trusted person during a child's testimony.