Instruct IO to ascertain age of minor: HC to DGP

The HP High Court has directed the state DGP to issue necessary directions to the investigating officer (IO) to collect evidence regarding the age of the victim, as per Section 94 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Rakesh Kainthla ordered the DGP that the investigating officer would collect the matriculation certificate or the date of birth certificate from the school.

The court clarified in the order that if either of these was not available, the birth certificate from the gram panchayat/municipal corporation/municipal authority and, if all of them were not available, the medical evidence regarding the age would do.

If the matriculation certificate, the birth certificate from the school of the victim or the birth certificate from the gram panchayat or the municipal council/corporation/authority was not available, the investigating officer would specifically assert the fact in the charge sheet submitted by him to the court. "We also direct the Director of the Prosecution to issue instructions to the public prosecutors to ensure that the provisions of Section 94 of the Juvenile Justice Act are complied with before the commencement of the trial.

The court directed the DGP and the Director of Prosecution to send to the court through the Registrar General the copies of the instructions they had issued on or before December 31, 2024. The court passed these directions while allowing the appeal of a convict, who had been convicted by the Fast-track POCSO Court, Mandi, on May 4, 2021, under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.

Aggrieved by the judgment and the order passed by the trial court, the accused filed an appeal asserting that the trial court had failed to appreciate the evidence on record. The victim was about 18 years of age and capable of giving consent. The relationship between the victim and the accused was consensual.

While setting aside the judgment of the POCSO Court, the High Court observed that “in the present case, the prosecution could not have relied upon the birth certificate when the certificate from the school attended by the victim was available and could have been procured from the school”.