Priyanka Singh
Published on: September 16, 2022 at 22:06 IST
The Himachal Pradesh High Court, while hearing an appeal, issued directions to the Special POCSO Courts to safeguard the identity of the child victim during the course of trial or investigation.
The bench of Justices Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Virender Singh issued the directions in the hearing of an appeal preferred by the State Government against the acquittal of an accused under Sections 363, 366, 376 of the IPC and Section 4 of the POCSO Act.
The Court, while acquitting the accused, showcased its distress about the way the proceedings before the trial were conducted.
As noted by the Court, the name of the mother of the victim was mentioned and that the proceedings of the case were not conducted in presence of camera as contrary to the Section 37 of the POCSO Act.
“Perusal of the order sheets, passed in this case, right from 4th July, 2016, when the charges were framed against the accused till the arguments were heard, reveals that the proceedings were never conducted in “camera”.
“Even, while recording the evidence of PW-1, who is the complainant as well as the mother of the child victim, and PW-3, the child victim, the mandatory provisions of Section 33(7) of the POCSO Act have not been complied with.”
“Rather, in a casual manner, the complete address of the complainant as well as her daughter (child victim), displaying/demonstrating their identity, has been mentioned in their deposition,” as noted by the bench.
The Court issued directions for such cases –
- Responsible effort to be made by the Special Judge/s and the police to seal the identity of the child victim, during the trial or the proceedings before trial.
- Use of camera proceeding under the Section 37 of the POCSO Act required.
- The Special Judge/s has to ensure, while recording of statements, that the identity of the child victim, his/her family, school, relatives, or neighbourhood, or any such relevant identity to not be revealed.
- The Special Judge/s is at the liberty to name the victim/relatives of the victim fictitiously and while such naming, the Judge must be satisfied about the identity of the child victim and the witnesses from the report u/s 173(2) of CrPC, and such satisfaction must be recorded in the proceedings.
- As per Instructions No. HHC/Admn./Instructions/2018-33, dated 12th July, 2018, issued by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, all the judgments are required to be uploaded on the website of District Court/s and the Special Judge/s are to ensure that the information of identity of the child victim is not revealed with regards to Section 33(7) of the POCSO Act.
- Special Judge/s dealing with POCSO cases are expected and required to adhere to the directions and the POCSO Act.
[State of Himachal Pradesh vs. Shiv Lal]
The Court has emphasized that the POCSO Act was enacted to safeguard the interests of child victims by including provisions that protect the child victim, their parents, as they still prefer to report the crime to the police.
The Court remarked on this, saying, “Reporting such crimes to the police are still considered to be stigmatic in the tradition-bound conservative society of our country. “
“That is why, certain duties have been cast upon the Special Courts to ensure that the identity of the child victim shall not be disclosed, at any time, during the course of investigation or trial.”