Delhi HC: Marriage Certificate Cannot Shield Adults Under POCSO
Delhi High Court rules that a marriage certificate recognised by personal law cannot absolve an adult of criminality for physical relations with a girl under 18.
The Delhi High Court has held that an adult cannot escape prosecution for physical relations with a girl below the age of 18 merely by producing a marriage certificate recognised under personal law. Such a defence, the court observed, would hollow out the protection framework created by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The ruling addresses the interplay between personal law marriage and the criminal law protecting minors. The court reasoned that if an accused could answer a POCSO prosecution simply by pointing to a valid marriage under personal law, the statute's safeguards for children would be substantially weakened.
The observation underscores that the age of consent and the prohibition on sexual relations with minors operate independently of marital status. A marriage recognised by personal law, in other words, does not by itself remove the criminal character of such relations when the girl is under 18.
The decision reinforces the primacy of the POCSO framework in cases involving minors, even where a marriage is asserted as a defence.