‘Purpose of law cannot be to allow offender to escape meshes of law’, says SC quashing ‘skin-to-skin’ judgment of Bombay HC | India News

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Courtroom on Thursday quashed the Bombay excessive court docket verdict which had held that no offence of sexual assault underneath the Pocso Act is made out if there isn’t a direct skin-to-skin contact between an accused and sufferer.
A bench headed by Justice U U Lalit put aside the excessive court docket judgement, and stated a very powerful ingredient of constituting sexual assault is sexual intent and never skin-to-skin with the kid.
The excessive court docket had held that skin-to-skin contact is important for Pocso offence and convicted two accused and two-year jail phrases who had indecently touched the physique of a minor.
The highest court docket famous that giving a slender which means of bodily contact to restrict it to skin-to-skin contact would defeat the aim of Pocso Act and it can’t be accepted. “Function of the regulation can’t be to permit the offender to flee the meshes of the regulation,” the apex court docket stated.

“We now have held that when the legislature has expressed clear intention, the courts can’t create ambiguity within the provision. It’s proper that courts can’t be overzealous in creating ambiguity,” the bench, additionally comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, stated.
The highest court docket, which was listening to separate appeals of Legal professional Normal and the Nationwide Fee for ladies (NCW), had on January 27 stayed the order which had acquitted a person underneath the Safety of Kids from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act saying groping a minor’s breast with out ‘pores and skin to pores and skin contact’ can’t be termed as sexual assault .
The classes court docket had sentenced the person to a few years of imprisonment for the offences underneath the POCSO Act as additionally underneath IPC part 354. The sentences have been to run concurrently.
The excessive court docket, nevertheless, acquitted him underneath the POCSO Act whereas upholding his conviction underneath IPC part 354.
The court docket handed the order on an enchantment filed by legal professional basic Okay Okay Venugopal who contended that HC’s verdict was outrageous and pleaded the court docket to set it apart.
The AG had contended that the HC verdict may have enormous repercussions on 43,000 Pocso instances registered yearly.
In the meantime, it’s the second time within the historical past of SC that the Legal professional Normal filed an enchantment in opposition to the HC order.
Legal professional Normal had first in 1985 filed enchantment in opposition to Rajasthan HC verdict in regard to execution of demise sentence by public hanging as ordered by HC.
(With inputs from companies)