Gujarat HC quashes POCSO FIR against man after victim affirms no grievance

Gujarat High Court has quashed an FIR and all related criminal proceedings against a man accused of rape and multiple offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, after the victim—now an adult—appeared in court, submitted an affidavit stating she has no objections to the charges being dropped, and confirmed her marriage to the accused.

The victim girl was a minor when an offence was registered against the accused in 2023. The victim had married the applicant after attaining the legal marriage age.

During the hearing, the victim informed the court that she had married the accused and further revealed that she had conceived following the marriage. The accused's advocate produced a photocopy of the marriage registration certificate as evidence.

Allowing the accused's petition to quash the FIR, the court invoked its powers under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. It observed that continuing the proceedings would amount to "unnecessary harassment" and a "futile exercise”, constituting an abuse of the process of law. To secure the ends of justice," the court ruled, the FIR and all consequential proceedings must be set aside.

The FIR was lodged in 2023 at Bavla Police Station in Ahmedabad district when the girl was a minor. It included charges under Sections 363, 366, 376(2)(n), and 114 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as sections 3, 4, 5(l), 6, and 17 of the POCSO Act, 2012.