Munmun Kaur
Published On: February 09, 2022 at 11:39 IST
The Bombay High Court has emphasised on the importance of deposition of victims under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) to be done expeditiously lest they forget the incident, due to passage of time, giving advantage to the Accused.
The observation was made by Justice Revati Mohite Dere in the Case of Atul Gorakhnath Ambale v. State of Maharashtra while dealing with the Bail Application filed by an Accused under POCSO Act. The Application sought Bail on the grounds that there had been no progress in the trial despite an order calling for expeditious completion of the same and that he was HIV positive requiring medical assistance.
Earlier, in 2019, the Accused had filed a Bail Application which was later withdrawn as the Court was not inclined towards granting him Bail. In an Order of Bombay High Court dated October 15, 2019, the High Court had called for an expeditious Trial, noting that the victim was only 11 years old. A month later from the first Order, the Accused filed another Bail Application which was heard recently.
The High Court was informed that the victim had not been cross-questioned since 2019. Emphasizing on the importance of expeditious Trial in cases of minor victims of offences under POCSO, the High Court called for a report from the concerned Court and said
Considering that there is no progress in the Trial, a report be called for from the learned Sessions Judge, Court Room No.28, Greater Mumbai, to enable the learned Judge to submit his report, as to why there has been delay in the conclusion of the Trial and why the Prosecutrix has not been examined till date.
The High Court also directed the Prosecution to submit a report on the medical condition of the Accused and adjourned the matter for February 21, 2022.
