Proceedings under Section 376 IPC and the POCSO Act quashed after the parties’ marriage and family acceptance.

The applicant, Rohit Chauhan, sought quashing of the proceedings in Special Session Trial No. 39 of 2023, arising from Case Crime No. 0017 of 2022 registered at Police Station Chakrata, District Dehradun.

He was facing trial for offences under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3/4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (“POCSO Act”).

The petition was filed under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (“BNSS”), along with a compounding application supported by affidavits of the applicant, the informant-father, and the victim, who was respondent no. 3.

The parties stated that the applicant and the victim had been in a relationship; although the victim was allegedly 16 years old at the time of the incident, she subsequently attained majority and married the applicant on 5 September 2026 with the consent of their families.

Their marriage-registration application was pending before the competent authority.

The applicant, the victim, and her father were present before the Court and were identified by their respective counsel.

The State did not oppose the quashing, submitting that continuation of the proceedings would serve no useful purpose in view of the marriage and the family’s acceptance of the relationship.

Whether the High Court should exercise its jurisdiction under Section 528 of the BNSS to quash the pending criminal proceedings under Section 376 IPC and Sections 3/4 of the POCSO Act on the ground that the accused and the victim had subsequently married and their families had accepted the marriage?

Whether continuation of the criminal proceedings would serve any useful purpose or adversely affect the matrimonial life of the applicant and the victim?

The Court exercised its jurisdiction under Section 528 of the BNSS, 2023, which preserves the High Court’s inherent powers to pass orders necessary to give effect to any order under the BNSS, prevent abuse of the process of court, or secure the ends of justice.

The underlying prosecution involved Section 376 of the IPC and Sections 3/4 of the POCSO Act.

Although the Court allowed the accompanying compounding application, it did not rely on any specific statutory provision or precedent concerning the compounding of POCSO offences; rather, it treated the matter as one warranting exercise of the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction in the particular circumstances presented.

No precedent was cited in the order.

The Court considered the parties’ presence and identification, the affidavits supporting the settlement, the applicant’s marriage to the victim after she attained majority, the pending registration of the marriage, and the acceptance of the marriage by the victim’s father and both families.

The State also accepted that, in these circumstances, continuing the trial would serve no useful purpose.

Applying its inherent jurisdiction under Section 528 of the BNSS, the Court concluded that continuation of the prosecution would adversely affect the parties’ matrimonial life and that the proceedings therefore warranted quashing to secure the ends of justice.

It allowed the Section 528 BNSS petition and the accompanying compounding application, and quashed the entire proceedings in Special Session Trial No. 39 of 2023, State v. Rohit Chauhan, arising out of Case Crime No. 0017 of 2022, pending before the Fast Track Court/Special Court (POCSO)/Additional District Judge, Dehradun.