Noida Pocso Court Acquits Elderly Man After Decade-Long Incarceration
A special Pocso court in Noida has delivered a landmark verdict, acquitting a 68-year-old man who endured nearly ten years of imprisonment in a case that the judge determined was fundamentally flawed and maliciously motivated. In a comprehensive order issued on Friday, Additional Sessions Judge Vikas Nagar emphatically stated that the prosecution utterly failed to establish the most basic elements of its case.
Court Finds Prosecution Case Fundamentally Unproven
The judge highlighted three critical failures: the prosecution could not prove the complainant was a minor at the time of the alleged incident, could not establish that any sexual assault occurred, and could not demonstrate that the allegations were free from ulterior motives. This scathing assessment led to the immediate acquittal of the accused, who hails from Bihar.
Origins of the Case and Key Developments
The legal ordeal began on August 8, 2016, when the girl's father filed an FIR at Sector 20 police station, accusing two men of abducting and raping his daughter. Police subsequently filed a chargesheet on November 8, 2016, invoking relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Charges were formally framed against both accused. However, during the proceedings, one individual was determined to be a juvenile, leading to the separation of his case in 2023 and its transfer to the Juvenile Justice Board. The trial against the elderly man continued exclusively before the special Pocso court.
Witness Testimonies and Defense Arguments
The prosecution presented five witnesses, including the alleged victim, her parents, the investigating officer, and the doctor who conducted the medico-legal examination. In contrast, the defense called three witnesses and mounted a robust argument centered on two key points.
First, the defense asserted that the accused was actually attending to his ailing mother in Bihar at the time of the alleged incident, providing an alibi. Second, and more crucially, the defense alleged that the FIR application was written by a man named Pankaj Pandit, who had a long-standing and bitter property dispute with the accused.
Property Dispute Emerges as Central to Court's Decision
This claim regarding the property dispute became the linchpin of the court's final judgment. Judge Nagar noted that the complainant falsely denied any association with Pankaj Pandit, who had indeed authored the FIR application on his behalf. The defense substantiated this by presenting certified copies of pending legal cases, clearly demonstrating that Pandit harbored "rivalry and disputes" with the accused.
The court found this evidence compelling, lending significant weight to the defense's argument that the entire case was a malicious fabrication engineered to settle a personal vendetta.
Critical Failures in Proving Age and Assault
The prosecution's case further unraveled on two other fundamental fronts. With no official age document presented, the court relied on a report from the Chief Medical Officer, which estimated the girl's age to be between 18 and 22 years old at the time, thereby negating the Pocso Act's applicability which is for minors.
Medical evidence also failed to support the allegations. The court's records show that no spermatozoa were found in the vaginal smear slides, and no medical report on file could establish sexual or any other form of abuse. The examining doctor testified that "no definite opinion about sexual assault can be given," despite the examination being conducted within 24 hours of the alleged event.
Court's Final Ruling and Release Order
Concluding that the witness statements contained "grave inconsistencies" and that the FIR itself appeared to be false and malicious, the court acquitted the man of all charges. For his release from jail, the court ordered him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 along with two sureties of the same amount, to be completed within seven days.
This case underscores the severe consequences of malicious prosecution and highlights the judiciary's role in scrutinizing evidence meticulously, even in emotionally charged cases under stringent laws like the Pocso Act. The decade-long ordeal of the accused brings to light the immense personal cost of legal battles driven by ulterior motives.
