In Brief

A Supreme Court Bench exercised extraordinary powers under Article 142 to spare a POCSO Act convict from a mandatory 20-year prison sentence because the victim—a girl of 14 at the time—is now an adult married to the accused with whom she has a child and wishes to continue living together. The Court found that systemic failures of the State, family, and society prevented the victim from making an informed choice; it was the subsequent legal battle, not the crime itself, that traumatised her. Restoring conviction but imposing no sentence, the Court directed the State to act as true guardian, providing shelter, full education costs, and financial support to rehabilitate the family—a decision explicitly not treated as precedent.

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