The Allahabad High Court has set aside criminal proceedings under the POCSO Act, remarking that compelling a happily-married couple to undergo trial only so the wife can testify in favour of her husband would amount to an “irony of fate” and serve as an “instrument of harassment.”
Justice Kshitij Shailendra allowed a plea filed by Ashwani Anand, who faced prosecution after the woman’s father alleged that his daughter had been abducted in April 2024. The woman, however, consistently denied the allegations and informed both the police and the court that she had left home of her own will and later married the petitioner.
The order, delivered on November 21, noted that both the woman and her husband were living together peacefully, and that she had herself sought the quashing of the FIR.
The High Court said it could not remain a “silent spectator” or a “mere bystander” when the facts clearly warranted intervention to prevent injustice.
Calling it the “pious duty of a judge to wipe every tear from every eye,” the court stressed that the purpose of criminal law is not to create unnecessary problems for society but to resolve them.
The court strongly criticised the consequences of continuing the prosecution when the so-called victim had denied any wrongdoing.
It observed:
“Compelling a lady in such matters to visit court premises for months and years for the purpose of getting her own husband acquitted… would be an instrument of harassment.”
Despite the woman’s categorical statement that she left her parents’ home voluntarily and had no physical relationship with the accused at that time, police went on to file a chargesheet.
The FIR was filed by the woman’s father, who claimed his daughter had been abducted, triggering offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. During the investigation, however, the woman repeatedly refuted all allegations and supported the quashing of the case.
Finding it unjust to let the proceedings continue, the High Court allowed the petition and quashed the charges against the husband.
