Delhi High Court has canceled the bail granted to the accused of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl. Overturning the decision of the lower court, the court said that it was wrong to grant relief at the crucial stage of the investigation and ordered the accused to surrender on July 1.
The Delhi High Court on Monday set aside a trial court’s order granting bail to a man accused of seriously sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl. The High Court said that the Sessions Court had ignored important aspects of the case while granting relief. The High Court has directed the accused to surrender before the concerned POCSO court on July 1 at 2 pm.
Justice Vinod Kumar allowed the petitions filed by the state and the victim’s mother, challenging the May 7 order of the Additional Sessions Judge. Under this order, the accused was granted regular bail in an FIR registered under Section 64(1) of the Indian Justice Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act at Janakpuri Police Station.
Flaws in the lower court’s decision
The High Court observed that the trial court had granted bail to the accused just a week after his arrest, while the investigation was still at a critical stage. The Court held that the Sessions Court did not adequately consider the allegations of the child and other surrounding circumstances before releasing the accused on bail.
The court said the three-year-old victim had complained to her mother about pain in her private parts after she was allegedly touched by a man in the school on the day of the incident. Although she did not name the accused initially, she later identified him to the police and also marked the place where the alleged incident took place. The court said that at this stage there is nothing on record to show that the child or his parents had any motive to falsely implicate the accused.
High Court’s comment on evidence and witnesses
Referring to the CCTV footage, the High Court said that it confirms the presence of the accused in the junior wing of the school between 8:13 am and 8:37 am on the day of the alleged incident. The Court held that the trial court gave undue importance to the accused leaving the premises at 8:37 am, while ignoring the victim’s statement.
The High Court further said that there were only two male employees in the junior school, including the accused, which makes it less likely that the child might have mistaken the identity of the alleged culprit. The Court emphasized that the statements of a child of such a young age cannot be evaluated in the same manner as the statements of an adult and apparent discrepancies in the statements should not be a ground for treating the child’s statement as unreliable at the bail stage.
While the trial court had relied on the medical examination which showed no external injuries, the High Court said that the absence of injuries or nothing being found on the tissue paper recovered during the investigation, was no ground to doubt the statement of the victim, especially when the investigation was still going on. The Court also observed that many of the issues raised by the defense were still under investigation.
Reference to legal precedent and Supreme Court
The Court distinguished an earlier case relied upon by the accused, noting that in that case the victim was an adult and was granted bail after the completion of the investigation, whereas in the present case the victim is only three years old and the investigation is ongoing.
Relying on the recent judgment of the Supreme Court on granting bail in POCSO cases, the High Court said that the courts must take into account the seriousness of the offence, the statutory stringency of the POCSO Act and the sensitivity of the child victims. The Court held that the trial court ignored important factors while granting bail in a case involving charges of serious nature.
Accordingly, the High Court, in exercise of its powers under Section 528 of the Indian Civil Defense Code, 2023, canceled the impugned bail order and directed the accused to surrender before the concerned Additional Sessions Judge (POCSO Court) at 2 pm on July 1, 2026. (ANI)
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