Supreme Court Upholds Framing of Charges in Child Sexual Harassment Case, Dismisses Pleas of Accused.


07 October 2025 POCSO >> Criminal Law   |   Special Leave Petition >> Criminal Law  

The Supreme Court of India has rejected two Special Leave Petitions (SLP (Crl.) Nos. 9572/2023 and 3515/2024) against a Delhi High Court order whereby the discharge of two accused persons was set aside and framing of charges was ordered in a matter relating to allegations of assault and sexual harassment of a minor boy.

The order was rendered by a bench consisting of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B. Varale on October 7, 2025, holding that there was reasonable material on record to support the framing of charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and sections thereof of the Indian Penal Code.


 

The petitioners, Sushil Kumar and another, had come to the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court's order dated October 19, 2022, which had set aside the trial court's ruling discharging them in Criminal Revision Petition No. 131 of 2018. The High Court had ordered framing of charges, resulting in the current challenge before the Supreme Court.

In the course of proceedings, it was observed that even though the trial court had thereafter put charges in the form provided in line with the High Court's directive, the trial had not gone on due to an interim stay ordered by the Supreme Court.

The bench used the record and noted that although the victim did not at first state in his Section 161 statement under the Code of Criminal Procedure that he was sexually assaulted or harassed, he had made it very clear in his subsequent statement under Section 164 that the accused had stripped him naked. The Court observed that such behavior squarely fell within the definition of sexual harassment under Section 11(ii) of the POCSO Act. There were, in particular, certain allegations of the victim having been beaten up with bats and sticks to make out a prima facie case under the Indian Penal Code also.

The Court also noted the medical evidence of the victim's injuries and the fact that he was a mentally challenged child, thus emphasizing the severity of the alleged offences.

Considering these observations, the bench held that the discharge by the trial court was completely unjustified and upheld the propriety of the Delhi High Court's order for framing of charges. Accordingly, the Supreme Court rejected the petitions, noting that they were bereft of merit, and set aside the interim order that had suspended trial proceedings. It also ordered the trial court to go on independently and without being swayed by any remarks made either by the High Court or by the Supreme Court.

All pending applications in relation to the petitions were disposed of as well.


Section 11, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act - 2012  

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012  

Indian Penal Code, 1860  

Section 161., Code of Criminal Procedure - 1973  

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973