In this criminal petition, the petitioner, Sri Gopal Tati, who is the father of the accused Sri Rajat Tati, was originally seeking the quashing of the charge sheet submitted against the accused in North DMN Women PS Case No.2017/WDN/O11 U/s 302/201/376(1) IPC and Section 4 of POCSO Act, 2012 on the ground that there is no prima facie case against him to go to trial. However, he, through the RTI application filed by him, came to learn that the deceased was not a minor at the time of the incident. It is the contention of the petitioner that the charge framed against the accused under the provisions of the POCSO Act, in addition to charge framed against him U/s 302/201/376(1) IPC, cannot be sustained in law. In the course of hearing, Ms. R. Purkayashtha, the learned counsel for the petitioner, forcefully submits that once it is found that the deceased is not a minor, the provisions of POCSO Act cannot be applied against the accused since to do so would result in shifting the burden of proof of his innocence will lie upon him, not upon the complainant in view of the provisions of Sections 29 and 30 of the POCSO Act. She, therefore, contends that the framing of the charge against the accused under Section 4 of the POCSO Act when the deceased was not a minor at the time of the incident will be highly prejudicial to the case of accused. This alone, contends the learned counsel, is sufficient to quash the entire proceedings against the accused.
