Man files Pocso case against ex-wife for sexually assaulting their five-year-old son; SC issues notice

The Supreme Court has issued a notice on a special leave petition filed by a woman booked under the Pocso Act after her estranged husband accused her of sexually assaulting their five-year-old son. She approached the apex court after the Bombay High Court dismissed her plea to quash the case, saying she could first seek a discharge from the trial court, a TOI report stated.

HC said discharge plea is an available legal remedy

The Bombay High Court, while disposing of her petition in July, referred to earlier Supreme Court rulings that directed courts to use their FIR-quashing powers only in limited situations. The High Court said the woman had an alternative legal remedy and observed that filing for discharge is “not an onerous remedy.”

After hearing her counsel Abhishek Kulkarni and prosecutor M. M. Deshmukh, who opposed the quashing plea, the court said she could “not be permitted to raise a specious plea” by asking it to decide on her innocence directly under its extraordinary jurisdiction. The HC said doing so would render regular criminal procedures “otiose.”

FIR filed by husband; bail came with conditions

The case began when her husband filed an FIR against her and a male friend last April. She told the courts that the person was someone she had met on social media. The allegations include “sexually assaulting” the child, an offence that carries a minimum punishment of three years and a maximum of five years.

A trial court granted her bail on the same day she was arrested and produced. One of the conditions barred her from meeting or contacting the child until the completion of the trial.

Petitioner says FIR was filed during custody dispute

Her petition before the Supreme Court says she and the child had been living with her parents since last May due to marital disputes arising from her husband’s alleged infidelity. According to the petition, he took the child with him for a day and later filed what she described as a “false and concocted” FIR to strengthen his custody claim.

Her lawyer Kulkarni informed the Supreme Court that although the chargesheet has been filed, the trial has not yet begun.

Petition cites constitutional protection for children

Her special leave petition, filed through advocate S. K. Deshpande, argues that Article 39(F) of the Constitution requires the state to ensure children's protection from exploitation and to safeguard their dignity. The petition says the High Court did not consider that “misusing a child in false criminal proceedings amounts to mental cruelty and exploitation of the child… violates India’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which mandates protection of children from all forms of abuse, including misuse in legal disputes.”

The Supreme Court has sought replies from the respondents and listed the matter for mid-December.

(Inputs from TOI)