HC grants bail to boy in POCSO case, says company of hardened criminals would do more harm than good
New Delhi, Aug 8: The Delhi High Court has granted bail to a 23-year-old man in a POCSO Act case arising from his consensual physical relationship with a minor girl, saying putting a "young boy" in the company of hardened criminals will do more harm than good to him.
Justice Vikas Mahajan observed that the minor girl, aged 17 years and half at the relevant time, had sufficient maturity and intellectual capacity, and was prima facie in a consensual romantic relationship with the accused. The physical relationship between them was of their own free will, he said.
The judge noted the high court had said in an earlier verdict that the intention of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) was to protect children below the age of 18 years from sexual exploitation and it was never meant to criminalise consensual romantic relationship between young adults.
"The petitioner, who is presently aged about 23 years, is already in custody since 15.10.2021. Keeping the petitioner in jail will not serve any useful purpose, rather subjecting young boy in the company of hardened criminals would do more harm than good to him," said the court in a recent order.
"Accordingly, the petitioner is admitted to regular bail subject to his furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs. 20,000/- and a Surety Bond in the like amount subject to the satisfaction of the Trial Court/CMM/Duty Magistrate," the court ordered.
In the present case, the FIR was registered at the instance of the girl alleging that the accused was her neighbour who befriended her and established physical relationship with her on the pretext that he would marry her.
The girl subsequently discovered that she was pregnant and her medical examination revealed it was too late for abortion.
In its order, the court recorded that the prosecutrix asserted in her statement that she never wanted to get a case registered against the petitioner but it seemed that the FIR was lodged by her "at the insistence of her family who were perhaps embarrassed after the discovery of prosecutrix's pregnancy which had surpassed the stage of its termination".
"This court is cognizant of the fact that the prosecutrix was minor at the time of incident but at the same time it cannot be overlooked that the prosecturix was aged 17.5 years and was thus, of sufficient maturity and intellectual capacity. The petitioner at the relevant time was aged about 20 years," it said.
The court observed that the object of judicial custody is to secure the presence of the accused during the trial which can be ensured by putting in place appropriate conditions.
The testimonies of the prosecutrix and her mother have already been recorded, therefore, there cannot be any apprehension about the material witnesses being influenced, it added.
The court asked the petitioner not to leave the city without permission and appear before the trial court whenever the case is taken up for hearing.
It also asked him to keep his mobile in working condition and not communicate with the witnesses or family members of the witnesses.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
