Class 10 marksheet must be seized to prove age in POCSO cases: HC
A division bench of justices Vivek Agarwal and A K Singh, in its order, said if the rape survivor has appeared in class 10th exam, police should necessarily seize her Class 10th marksheet during investigation, and present it in the court so that there was no dispute over her age.
The survivor, in this case, was a Class 12th student and her class 10th marksheet was not produced in the court.
The court acquitted the accused, holding that the statements of the witnesses show that the survivor was an adult, and a consenting partner in the sexual act.
The bench said, "It is surprising to note that prosecutrix in her examination-in-chief states that she was a student of Class 12th when the incident took place but prosecution has failed to produce her Class 10th marksheet which would have been a cogent proof of date of birth of the prosecutrix in terms of the provisions as contained in Section 94 of Juvenile Justice (Care of Protection of Children) Act 2015."
The court said: "Before addressing the merits of the case, it is necessary to request the director general of police, state of MP to instruct all the investigating officers through superintendents of police by calling them through video conferencing and informing them that wherever prosecutrix in cases pertaining to Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012(POCSO) Act accepts that she was studying in class 10th or has failed in 10th class or was studying in any higher class then marksheet of class 10th should necessarily be seized so that many of the abnormalities and contradictions can be overcome.
"
This direction will be communicated by Yash Soni, additional advocate general for the state of MP to the DGP, state of MP alongwith certified copy of this judgment within seven working days, the judges said.
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