Overview
- Bombay High Court upheld a 2016 POCSO conviction but reduced the life term to 12 years, citing the convict’s youth at the time, over nine years in custody without parole, lack of antecedents, and certificates for reformative study and essay programmes.
- Karnataka High Court confirmed death sentences for three men for the gang rape and murder of a 7-year-old, calling the crime barbaric and categorising it as a rarest of rare case after weighing aggravating against minimal mitigating factors.
- Gauhati High Court overturned a 20-year sentence after finding major procedural lapses, inconsistent testimony lacking sterling quality, no medical corroboration, and non-compliance with child-friendly investigation mandates, ordering immediate release.
- Chhattisgarh High Court set aside a 20-year conviction, holding that contradictions, weak age proof, delays, and the couple’s voluntary cohabitation pointed to consensual elopement rather than forcible abduction, warranting benefit of doubt.
- Recent orders also include the Punjab and Haryana High Court suspending a 20-year sentence where both were minors with a small age gap and the Rajasthan High Court acquitting an ex-sarpanch after finding minority unproven and FIR delay unexplained.