‘Child accused of POCSO offence to be tried as per JJ Act’

The Kerala High Court has held that a child charged with the offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, is to be prosecuted as per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) ( JJ) Act.

Justice P.G. Ajithkumar made the observation while disposing of a petition filed by a 13yearold boy seeking to quash the case registered against him under the POCSO Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The prosecution case is that the petitioner had sexually assaulted another boy.

Counsel for petitioner submitted that prosecution of a child for an offence under the POCSO Act or sexual offences under the IPC was not possible as much as the offender, being a child, could not be attributed with the criminal intent. Therefore, the investigation against the petitioner was illegal

The court observed that ‘Child’ was not defined in the POCSO Act whereas it is defined in the JJ Act, 2015. Section 2(12) of the JJ Act, defined a child to be a person who has not completed 18 years of age.

Juvenile Justice Board

The court further observed if the offender is a child in conflict with law, whether for the offences under the POCSO Act or under any other statute, shall be inquired into only by a Juvenile Justice Board.