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Parhlad and Anr. v. State of Haryana

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 983 of 2015)Decided 3 Aug 2015
Criminal Appeal No. 983 of 2015
Justice Dipak Misra · Justice Prafulla C. Pant

Background

The first appellant, the uncle of a minor girl (the prosecutrix), took her from her home and did not return her, instead taking her to the house of the second appellant (his maternal uncle), where both men sexually assaulted her. Both were convicted by the trial court under Sections 363 and 376(2)(g) read with Section 34 IPC and sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment, a conviction upheld by the High Court, which rejected the defence's plea of consent after finding the prosecutrix was below sixteen years of age and had been misled in good faith by her own uncle.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the evidence on the prosecutrix's age (including school records and a disputed ossification test) and agreed with the concurrent findings of the trial court and High Court that she was a minor, so any plea of "consent" was legally irrelevant. The Court rejected the appellants' alternative argument for a reduced sentence despite over eight years already served in custody, holding that rape is a grave violation of a victim's dignity, bodily integrity, and constitutional rights under Articles 14 and 21, and that no special reason existed to justify leniency. The Court held the appellants had exploited their family relationship with the victim to commit the offence and found no merit whatsoever in the appeal, which was accordingly dismissed in full, upholding the conviction and the ten-year sentence.

Lesson Learnt

Courts treat rape of a minor as an assault on constitutional dignity and bodily autonomy, not a matter for leniency based on time already served in custody; a claim of "consent" offers no defence where the victim is below the age of consent under law, regardless of family or social trust between the parties.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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