State of U.P. vs Sonu Kushwaha
Background
The respondent, Sonu Kushwaha, was convicted by the Special POCSO Court in Jhansi for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy and sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 6 of the POCSO Act (aggravated penetrative sexual assault), along with lesser sentences under Sections 377 and 506 IPC. The Allahabad High Court partly allowed his appeal, holding that his act amounted only to the lesser offence of "penetrative sexual assault" under Section 4 of the POCSO Act (not the aggravated form under Section 6), and reduced his sentence to seven years. The State of U.P. appealed to the Supreme Court against this reduction.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that the High Court's own factual finding, that the accused had committed penetrative sexual assault on a victim below twelve years of age, squarely fell within the definition of "aggravated penetrative sexual assault" under Section 5(m) of the POCSO Act, since that clause is triggered whenever the victim is under twelve. The High Court had therefore committed an "obvious error" in downgrading the offence to Section 4. The Court further held that Section 6's minimum sentence of ten years' rigorous imprisonment leaves courts with no discretion to impose a lesser term, regardless of the accused's subsequent reform or personal circumstances. The High Court's judgment was set aside, the Trial Court's conviction and ten-year sentence were restored, and the respondent was directed to surrender within one month or face a non-bailable warrant.
Lesson Learnt
When a sexual offence against a child below twelve years is proved, the law under the POCSO Act treats it as "aggravated," and the ten-year minimum sentence is mandatory. Courts have no power to reduce it below the statutory floor, however sympathetic the accused's later circumstances may appear.