Chances Of Conviction Not Only Remote But Also Bleak: Allahabad High Court Quashes POCSO Case Over Marriage Between Accused & Victim

The Allahabad High Court has quashed a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO), after the accused and the victim married each other.

The Court was deciding an Application filed by the accused seeking quashing of the entire proceedings arising out of the case under Sections 363, 366, 504, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and Section 7 and 8 of the POCSO Act.

A Single Bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Singh observed, “… the crux of the matter is that the parties have solemnized marriage and they are living together as husband and wife and a baby boy was born on 09.08.2018. The prosecutrix is now residing with the applicant no.1 as his legally wedded wife , no such material has been brought on record on the basis of which the marriage of the parties could be doubted. In view of the subsequent development, the criminality, if any, committed by the applicants now stands washed off. As such, no useful purpose would be served in prolonging the criminal prosecution of the applicants. On account of the facts as noted above, the chances of conviction of the applicants are now not only remote but also bleak.”

The Bench said that in case the criminal prosecution of the accused is allowed to continue, a happy family comprising of accused and the victim shall stand broken.

Advocate Vikas Yadav appeared for the Applicants, while Advocate Ranu appeared for the Opposite Parties.

Factual Background

An FIR was lodged against the Applicants in respect of the alleged incident in the year 2016. It was alleged by the informant that his minor daughter was enticed away by the accused and his other family members including the Applicants, had hurled abuses and threatened him with dire consequences. When the victim was recovered by the Investigating Officer, her statement was recorded. She stated that she went with the accused on her own will and she claimed herself to be a major girl.

She further stated that she wanted to solemnize her marriage with the accused and her family members lodged a false FIR against the Applicants. She clearly stated that no sexual intercourse had taken place between them and when she came to know about lodging of the FIR, she came back to her house. As per the medical report, no injury was found over the victim’s body. Further, as per the report of the Chief Medical Officer, the victim was aged 18 years. The Magistrate took cognizance and challenging the proceedings, the Applicants were before the High Court.

Reasoning

The High Court after hearing the arguments from both sides, noted, “Undoubtedly marriage of the applicant no.1 and daughter of the opposite party no.2 has been solemnized a long way back and a child was born on 09.08.2018. The married couple are living under the same roof for a very long time. The dispute has been settled by the parties in mediation and conciliation centre on 08.10.2025 and the contesting parties agreed to drop criminal proceedings including the present one.”

The Court was of the view that the trial would only entail loss of judicial time in a futile pursuit particularly when torrents of litigation drown the Courts with an unimaginable flood of dockets.

“… in the present case the applicant no.1 and the victim have solemnized their marriage and a baby boy was born out of their wedlock and they are living a happy married life for the last several years and the opposite party no.2/first informant has also entered into settlement agreement before the Mediation Centre of this Court, and if the proceedings of the Trial Court is not quashed by this Court, the applicant no.1 and the victim and their family members may sustain legal injury”, it said.

Accordingly, the High Court allowed the Application and quashed the proceedings against the accused.

Cause Title- Wasiullah and 2 Others v. State of U.P. and 3 Others (Neutral Citation: 2025:AHC:207712)

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