‘Advance injustice’: Allahabad HC flags POCSO Act’s rigid application in minor couple cases | India News
The Allahabad high court has called on the law commission to consider recommending changes to the protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, to address cases involving minor couples while taking India’s prevailing social realities into account.A two-judge bench comprising justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev said that the strict enforcement of the legislation could, in certain exceptional circumstances, lead to outcomes that “advance injustice rather than justice”, especially when a relationship has resulted in the birth of a child.The comment was made during the court’s consideration of Rakesh Yadav’s habeas corpus petition, which sought an order to produce his wife.The bench observed that the law appeared not to have adequately considered India’s social conditions, where a substantial section of the population remains illiterate or semi-literate and may have limited awareness of their legal and constitutional rights, along with the responsibilities and consequences associated with them.The girl’s father told the court that she had studied up to class 5 but could not read a newspaper and was able only to sign her name. He said he had never attended school.The court allowed the man’s habeas corpus petition. The couple had eloped, and the girl subsequently gave birth to their child, following which a case was registered against him under the POCSO Act.Court calls for flexibility in exceptional cases“It is definitely not an excuse to be ignorant of the law. The bench noted that the POCSO Act’s execution may, in some factual circumstances, lead to outcomes that seem to promote injustice rather than justice if this concept is implemented in a purely pedantic manner.”According to the news agency PTI, the court suggested that the law commission consider amendments allowing special judges greater flexibility in exceptional cases to take the specific circumstances into account while deciding an appropriate sentence.It also recommended examining alternative penalties, including community service, in situations where applying the POCSO Act could lead to the unnecessary disruption of a family formed amid a lack of awareness of the law.The bench observed that the existing legislation appeared to have insufficiently considered India’s prevailing social realities.Describing the matter as a conflict between human development and the strict application of the law, the court noted that adolescents around the age of 15 may develop emotional and physical maturity that can lead to attraction towards another person.
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However, the bench stressed that the state must ensure minors continue their education until they reach the age of majority. It also underlined the need to provide them with adequate opportunities to acquire vocational skills and become self-reliant.According to the case records, the couple had eloped and signed an affidavit on September 1, 2025, declaring themselves husband and wife.The state government and the girl’s father stated that her date of birth was July 25, 2010.After being separated from her husband, the girl was placed in a Balika Griha, where she subsequently gave birth to a child.The court noted that the case records did not contain a date-of-birth certificate issued by a school or a birth certificate from a municipal authority or panchayat.
