‘Consensual romantic ties’, HC grants bail to youth in Pocso case

New Delhi: Considering the case of a "romantic relationship" based on consent, Delhi High Court has granted bail to a youth booked under Pocso Act for having sex with his minor girlfriend.The accused had already spent over two yea-rs behind bars while the girl's bone ossificat-ion test revealed that she was on the verge of attaining majority when the duo had a sexual relationship — two factors that convinced the court to intervene.
"The FIR specifically mentions that the prosecutrix is friends with a boy... (petitioner herein). Further, statements of prosecutrix under Section 161 as well as 164 CrPC, and the cross-examination of the prosecutrix suggests that she liked the petitioner and went with him to Agra out of her own free will. Thus, it appears to be a case of romantic relationship between the petitioner and the prosecutrix," Justice Vikas Mahajan noted on Tuesday.While pointing out that a minor's consent for sexual relations has no value in the eyes of law, the cout said "but taking her age as 17 years, it prima facie appears that she was of sufficient maturity and intellectual capacity, and her romantic involvement with the petitioner is one of the considerations which tilts the balance in favour of the petitioner for the purpose of granting bail".It cited an earlier high court ruling that Poc-so Act was never meant to criminalise consensual romantic relationships between young adults. "The present is not a case where prosecutrix was subjected to any violence or brutality," the court emphasised.It underscored that in cases of sexual assault under Pocso Act, wherever the court is called upon to determine the age of a survivor based on a bone age ossification test, the upper age given in the reference range has to be considered as her age. "Thus, going by the said dictum, the age of the prosecutrix will have to be taken as 17 years," it noted, clarifying that none of its observations is on the merits of the case.The court added that the complainant, her mother and other witnesses were examined, ruling out the possibility of the accused influencing witnesses.