In Brief
Parminder Kaur was convicted of procuring a minor girl for illicit intercourse (Section 366A IPC) and criminal intimidation (Section 506 IPC). The Supreme Court set aside the conviction on appeal, finding that the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The testimonies of the two main witnesses (the alleged victim and her father) contained numerous material contradictions regarding the tenant's description, age, duration of residence, and presence of witnesses. The failure to identify, trace, or apprehend the alleged male tenant despite months of residence, combined with a five-day delay in FIR registration by an eyewitness father, created reasonable doubt. The courts below had relied on general assumptions rather than rigorous factual analysis and failed to properly examine the appellant's defense that there was no tenant and the complaint was motivated by her rape allegation against a third party. The appellant was acquitted.",
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