The Delhi High Court has refused to quash the rape charges framed against suspended Delhi government official Premoday Khakha, who stands accused of repeatedly raping a minor girl known to him. The court also upheld related charges against his wife Seema Rani and their two children.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, in a judgment dated July 15 and made public on July 28, found no legal infirmity or perversity in the trial court’s order that had framed charges under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Charges Upheld Against Premoday Khakha
Khakha was charged under Sections 376(2)(f), 376(3), 323, and 354 of the IPC, and Sections 6 and 8 of the POCSO Act. These relate to aggravated sexual assault by a person in a position of trust, rape of a girl under 16 years of age, causing hurt, and outraging modesty.
The alleged incidents occurred between November 2020 and January 2021. According to the prosecution, the survivor—then a minor and the daughter of an acquaintance of Khakha—was raped multiple times. Khakha was arrested in August 2023 and remains in judicial custody.
Vasectomy Argument Rejected
Khakha had argued that the charges should be quashed on the grounds that he had undergone a vasectomy in 2005, and was therefore incapable of impregnating the survivor. The High Court, however, rejected this defence, observing that “vasectomy is not infallible,” and that “there are medically documented cases of conception despite the procedure.”
The court concurred with the sessions court that the vasectomy did not rule out either the possibility of sexual assault or impregnation.
Charges Against Wife and Children Also Stand
The High Court also upheld the charges against Seema Rani for allegedly administering abortion pills to the survivor to terminate the pregnancy. Rani is charged with causing miscarriage and destruction of evidence. She, too, remains in judicial custody.
Moreover, the court declined to set aside the charges framed under Section 21 of the POCSO Act against Seema Rani and her children, Harsh Prateek and Prateeksha, for failing to report the offence despite having knowledge of it. The children were granted anticipatory bail by the Supreme Court in January 2024.
“The material available on record, including the categorical statements of the prosecutrix and the surrounding circumstances, sufficiently indicate that the said accused persons were aware of the commission of the offence and failed to report the same to the concerned authorities,” the High Court noted.
Trial to Proceed
With the High Court dismissing the pleas of all four accused, the case will now proceed to trial. The case has been registered under relevant provisions of the IPC and the POCSO Act, which mandates stringent action for sexual crimes against minors.
The ruling marks a significant step in the judicial proceedings against Khakha and his family members, reaffirming the seriousness with which courts are addressing crimes involving child sexual abuse and the duty to report such offences.
