The case stems from a first information report (FIR) registered on January 21, 2019, in Bhandara, Maharashtra, after the alleged incidents of abuse taking place between May 2014 and 2018. It came on record that a charge sheet had been filed but formal charges were yet to be framed in the case
With the top court's refusal to quash the charges, the former judge is expected to stand trial in a special POCSO court. File pic
The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday refused to quash the criminal proceedings against a former judicial officer from Maharashtra who has been accused of sexually abusing his minor daughter, reported PTI.
“The daughter is making an allegation. It is a shocking case. He is a judicial officer and these are serious allegations of incest. This is shocking. And the daughter has made the allegations. She must have been scarred for life. How can this be a case for quashing?" a bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan observed, while dismissing the judicial officer’s appeal against a Bombay High Court (HC) order passed on April 15, upholding the framing of charges by the trial court.
The bench took into consideration the serious allegations and charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against him.
The court also did not agree to the submissions that the judge was framed owing to the long-standing matrimonial dispute with his estranged wife and the case was a “counter blast” and lodged after his father died by suicide allegedly following harassment by the complainant's side.
“This man's entire life has been ruined starting with his matrimonial problems. His father committed suicide. The complaint was made much later and was never mentioned during earlier legal proceedings,” the counsel for the former judge argued.
To this, Justice Manmohan said, “We don't want to get into all this. Suicide may be because of the son's [judge] actions.”
The case stems from a first information report (FIR) registered on January 21, 2019, in Bhandara, Maharashtra after the alleged incidents of abuse taking place between May 2014 and 2018, reported PTI.
It came on record that a charge sheet had been filed but formal charges were yet to be framed in the case.
The former judge was charged under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for assaulting a woman with intent to outrage her modesty apart from Sections 7, 8, 9(l), 9(n), and 10 of the POCSO Act, relating to various forms of sexual assault, including aggravated and incestuous abuse.
The plea alleged the complaint was made with malicious intent and the FIR was registered four years – coinciding with an ongoing custody dispute and matrimonial litigation – after the alleged events.
The former judge also argued that the statutory presumption under the POCSO Act was improperly invoked, as no foundational facts had yet been established.
With the top court's refusal to quash the charges, the former judge is expected to stand trial in a special POCSO court.
(With PTI inputs)
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