Don't Use School TC To Determine Survivor's Age In POCSO Case: SC

The Supreme Court ruled that school transfer certificates and admission register extracts cannot be used to estimate a survivor's age under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

A double-judge bench consisting of Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar observed that whenever there’s a dispute about the age of a person in the context of them being a survivor under the POCSO Act, the court must refer to the steps mentioned in Section 94 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

School TC Cannot Determine Age In POCSO

The top court was considering a petition filed by a man who was concurrently convicted under the POCSO Act. The trial court relied on the school transfer certificate to determine the age of the survivor. The doctor, on the other hand, had testified that the first would be more than 18 but less than 20 years old.

However, the high court rejected the doctor’s testimony and relied on the date of birth mentioned in the school records, stating that the approximate age estimation by the medical expert could not be taken as a determining factor.

The doctor had determined the age of the girl based on several medical tests, including an x-ray, bone examination, and stage of development, and opined that she must be between the ages of 18 and 20 years. He concluded the age based on the results of ossification or the 14-bone test, which is authentic evidence.

The Supreme Court further added that the prosecution was unable to establish evidence of any penetrative sexual assault as a result of coercion or compulsion from the accused. The court pointed out that in the girl’s statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr. PC), the survivor has testified that she was in love with the accused, had consumed poison, and had also been hospitalised because she was adamant about wanting to live with the accused.

Therefore, the court concluded that there was no penetrative sexual assault on her, and hence, the provisions of the POCSO Act won’t be applicable to this case. The court granted the accused's petition and set aside the conviction.

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