A 2023 POCSO case in Anand has taken a fresh turn after the Gujarat High Court found that an important part of the evidence used to decide an accused’s age was still unclear.
The case involves two accused who were teenagers when the alleged offences took place. One of them, born in 2003, was to face proceedings before the Special POCSO Court.
The other accused, born on July 15, 2005, has been fighting a separate legal battle over whether he should be treated as a juvenile or face the case as an adult.
The dispute has now returned to the Juvenile Justice Board after questions arose over an Instagram message that was used to determine when the alleged offence ended.
The case dates back to 2023
The case began after the father of a minor girl approached Anand police in 2023. His complaint accused the two teenagers of rape and sexual harassment.
The allegations include an incident of rape in February 2023, followed by alleged harassment through Instagram messages.
While the first accused, who was born in 2003, was set to face trial before the Special POCSO Court, the second accused argued that he was below 18 when the alleged physical abuse happened.
He was 17 years and seven months old at the time, according to his claim.
His family therefore sought to have his case dealt with by the Juvenile Justice Board instead of an adult court.
Why his age became the main legal fight
The question became more complicated because of an Instagram message dated July 22, 2023.
By then, the second accused had already turned 18. His date of birth is July 15, 2005, meaning he was 18 years and seven days old when the message was allegedly sent.
In January 2024, the Children’s Court functioning as a POCSO court treated the alleged physical abuse and the later online messages as part of a continuing offence.
On that basis, the July 22 message was considered the final incident. Since the accused was already an adult on that date, the court decided that he should face the case as an adult.
His father challenged that decision before the Gujarat High Court.
Earlier High Court order led to forensic examination
In October 2024, the High Court directed the Juvenile Justice Board to examine the accused’s age by looking at the final date of the alleged offence. The court also asked that the forensic material be considered.
The case then continued before the Special POCSO Court, where the Forensic Sciences Laboratory evidence came under examination.
The FSL report indicated that the last message recovered from the accused’s mobile phone was sent roughly a week after he became an adult.
The FSL officer was also called before the trial court and was examined and cross-examined.
But the evidence did not answer one basic question about the message.
The missing detail in the forensic report
The report recorded the date of the disputed message as July 22, 2023. It did not, however, establish who received it.
During questioning, the FSL officer said the laboratory had not been specifically asked by the Juvenile Justice Board to determine the recipient of the message.
That created a problem because the message had been used to identify the final date of the alleged offence.
The accused’s lawyer later relied on this point, along with the FSL report and the officer’s deposition, when approaching the High Court again.
High Court orders a fresh look
The Gujarat High Court has now sent the issue back to the Juvenile Justice Board.
The court found that the uncertainty about the recipient of the July 22 message affected the basis for fixing the final date of the alleged offence. The Board has therefore been asked to obtain a fresh opinion from the Forensic Sciences Laboratory.
The new forensic exercise will have to address the final date of the alleged offence and the date and age of the accused.
The High Court has directed the process to be completed within two weeks.
The latest order does not decide the guilt or innocence of either accused. It deals with the separate question of how the second accused should be treated under juvenile law.
The first accused, born in 2003, remains part of the proceedings before the Special POCSO Court, while the second accused’s juvenile or adult status will now be reconsidered by the JJB after the fresh forensic opinion.
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