SC sets aside Calcutta High Court order asking adolescent girls to 'control sexual urges'

NEW DELHI: SC on Tuesday set aside the Calcutta High Court order asking adolescent girls to "control their sexual urges". Setting aside the October 18, 2023, judgment, a bench of justices Abhay Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said it had restored the conviction of the accused under the Pocso Act and Indian Penal Code.

The apex court had initiated a suo motu petition "due to sweeping observations/findings recorded by the division bench of Calcutta High Court" in the ruling.

The top court had also opined that the comments made by the high court were sweeping, objectionable, irrelevant, preachy and unwarranted. Setting aside his conviction by a trial court, HC division bench had acquitted the youth, who was convicted for raping a minor girl, with whom he had a "romantic affair". The top court on Tuesday restored the conviction and said a committee of experts will take a call on his sentence.