Shillong, Nov 4: The Meghalaya High Court of Meghalaya has quashed five POCSO cases in two days, holding that in each case the man and woman are now living together as husband and wife with children, and sending the man to jail would cause greater injustice to the woman and child.
Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere passed four orders on October 28 and one on October 30, on joint petitions filed by the men and women.
In all five cases, the relationship began when the girl was 16 and the boy was 19 to 20. Today the couples are adults, married or living together, with one to three children each. The cases were from Khliehriat, Shillong, Mairang and Madanriting.
The court did not quash the cases on their word alone. It sent each woman to the Secretary, High Court Legal Services Committee, to check if her consent was free and informed. Police were also asked to verify if the couples were really living together.
In every case, the women said the relationship was voluntary, they were living happily, and they had no objection to closing the case. In the Mairang case, even the father who had filed the FIR said he had no objection.
Relying on its April 10 judgment in the Shatenbor Wahlang case, the court said Meghalaya has many cases of teenage consensual relationships leading to marriage or living together, which society accepts. It also noted the state’s matrilineal system, where women have more freedom to choose partners.
Quashing under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita is allowed in rare and exceptional cases, the court said. “Law cannot be divorced from lived realities. Where the couple are married or living together and have children, sending the boy to jail would not serve justice.”
The court clarified that this does not make consent by a girl below 18 legal. It only means that in these facts, continuing the trial would harm the family more.
The court ordered that the women and children get benefits under 15 schemes, including Nirbhaya Fund, Mission Vatsalya, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Meghalaya Victim Compensation Scheme, Ayushman Bharat-PM-JAY and Mission Shakti. If compensation is given, it will be kept in fixed deposit till the woman turns 25, with quarterly interest to her.
The court also asked the state to spread awareness about POCSO in villages, schools and colleges.
