{"id":257033,"date":"2021-11-12T15:00:27","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T09:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=257033"},"modified":"2021-12-03T13:17:18","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T07:47:18","slug":"conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/","title":{"rendered":"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Bombay High Court: <\/strong>Anuja Prabhudessai, J., opined that where the witness is of tender age (as in the instant case before the Court), it is obligatory upon the Judge to ascertain the intellectual and understanding capacity of the child.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Appellant has assailed the judgment in POCSO Special Case wherein it was held that the appellant was guilty of offences punishable under Sections 354, 354-A read with Section 34 of Penal Code, 1860 and Section 10 of the POCSO Act.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Analysis, Law and Decision<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Instant case was based mainly on the testimony of the victim girl who at the time of the incident was barely 4 years of age.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is well settled that conviction can be based on the sole testimony of a child witness provided the witness is competent to depose to the facts and is a reliable witness.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Section 118 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 which deals with competency of a person to testify provides that:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>\u201cAll persons shall be competent to testify unless Court considers that they are prevented from understanding the questions put to them, or from giving rational answers to those questions, by tender years, extreme old age, disease, whether of body or mind, or any other cause of the same kind.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Explanation &#8211;A lunatic is not incompetent to testify, unless he is prevented by his lunacy from understanding the questions put to him and giving rational answers to them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Bench observed that, a child is a competent witness provided he is capable of understanding the questions put to him and is able to give rational answers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Court elaborated the analysis, by stating that since the witness was of tender age, it was obligatory upon the Judge to ascertain the intellectual and understanding capacity of the child and to record her satisfaction in respect of competency of the child witness to depose to the facts of the case. Records indicated that the Judge did not question the victim to ascertain whether she was able to understand the questions put to her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #333399;\">Well-Settled Principle of Law<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In criminal jurisprudence, no finding can be rendered either on mere surmise or conjecture and every finding should be based on satisfactory and acceptable evidence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">High Court\u2019s opinion with regard to the decision of Lower Court Judge<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Bench noted that PW2 did not know the Appellant and that she had identified him only as a painter. No test identification was conducted to establish the identity of the Appellant. She had identified him in the court for the first time about two years from the date of the incident.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It was also observed by this Court that testimony of PW 1 indicated that prior to the incident, she did not know the appellant either by name or face.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The evidence of PW6 did not indicate that the Appellant was engaged to do the work of painting on 11\/05\/2017 on which date, the alleged incident had occurred. There was thus no cogent evidence to establish the identity of the Appellant.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In Court\u2019s opinion, the Designated Judge grossly erred in holding the appellant guilty of the offence. Hence the appeal was allowed and the impugned judgment was quashed and set aside. [Laxman Govind Varma v. State of Maharashtra, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/Nb8404sF\"><b>2021 SCC OnLine Bom 4137<\/b><\/a>, decided on 26-10-2021]<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Advocates before the Court:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mr. S.P. Singh for the Appellant.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mr. P.H. Gaikwad, APP for the State.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ms. Ameeta Kuttikrishnan for Respondent No.2.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bombay High Court: Anuja Prabhudessai, J., opined that where the witness is of tender age (as in the instant case before the <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8808,"featured_media":74381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[3372,2518,19581,2573,6252,29785,23524,2572,2574],"class_list":["post-257033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-abuse","tag-Bombay_High_Court","tag-child","tag-child_witness","tag-evidence-act","tag-law","tag-pocso-act","tag-Rape","tag-testimony"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story] | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SCC Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-12T09:30:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-03T07:47:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1331\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"887\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bhumika Indulia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bhumika Indulia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bhumika Indulia\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a\"},\"headline\":\"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\\\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story]\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-12T09:30:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-03T07:47:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":595,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/Bombay-HC.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"abuse\",\"Bombay High Court\",\"child\",\"child witness\",\"Evidence Act\",\"law\",\"POCSO Act\",\"Rape\",\"testimony\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Case Briefs\",\"High Courts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/\",\"name\":\"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\\\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story] | SCC Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/Bombay-HC.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-12T09:30:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-03T07:47:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a\"},\"description\":\"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/Bombay-HC.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/Bombay-HC.jpg\",\"width\":1331,\"height\":887},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/12\\\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\\\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story]\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"SCC Times\",\"description\":\"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a\",\"name\":\"Bhumika Indulia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/Me-150x150.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/Me-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/Me-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Bhumika Indulia\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/author\\\/editor_1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story] | SCC Times","description":"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story]","og_description":"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/","og_site_name":"SCC Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/","article_published_time":"2021-11-12T09:30:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-12-03T07:47:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1331,"height":887,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bhumika Indulia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bhumika Indulia","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/"},"author":{"name":"Bhumika Indulia","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a"},"headline":"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story]","datePublished":"2021-11-12T09:30:27+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-03T07:47:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/"},"wordCount":595,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","keywords":["abuse","Bombay High Court","child","child witness","Evidence Act","law","POCSO Act","Rape","testimony"],"articleSection":["Case Briefs","High Courts"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/","name":"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story] | SCC Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","datePublished":"2021-11-12T09:30:27+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-03T07:47:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a"},"description":"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","width":1331,"height":887},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/12\/conviction-can-be-based-on-testimony-of-child-witness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Conviction can be based on Testimony of Child Witness: Is it obligatory for a Judge to ask the child whether he\/she is able to understand questions put to her? Bom HC [Full Story]"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/","name":"SCC Times","description":"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a","name":"Bhumika Indulia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Me-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Me-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Me-150x150.jpg","caption":"Bhumika Indulia"},"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/editor_1\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":254263,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/09\/16\/child-victims-testimony-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":257033,"position":0},"title":"Del HC | Can testimony of child victim be trustworthy? HC reiterates law on finding child witness competent","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"September 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Delhi High Court: Emphasising the reliability on the child victim\u2019s testimony, Manoj Kumar Ohri, J., dismissed the appeal filed and the conviction and sentence awarded under Section 10 of POCSO At was maintained. The present appeal was filed under Section 374(2) CrPC. Subject matter of the appeal was that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":257096,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/11\/15\/court-explains-intelligible-testimony-and-reverse-burden-of-proof\/","url_meta":{"origin":257033,"position":1},"title":"Cal HC | Court explains \u201dIntelligible testimony\u201d and \u201creverse burden of proof\u201d; dismisses appeal of accused charged for raping 3 year old girl under S. 6, POCSO Act","author":"Editor","date":"November 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Calcutta High Court: The Division Bench of Soumen Sen and Rabindranath Samanta, JJ., dismissed a criminal appeal which was filed against the judgment and order of conviction and sentence passed by Additional Sessions Judge\u2013cum-Special Judge under POCSO Act, 2012 whereby the appellant had been convicted for commission of offence punishable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/calcutta-court.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/calcutta-court.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/calcutta-court.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/calcutta-court.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/calcutta-court.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":239968,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/12\/01\/bom-hc-protector-turns-predator-11-year-old-child-subjected-to-digital-penetration-and-sexual-assault-hc-upholds-lower-courts-decision\/","url_meta":{"origin":257033,"position":2},"title":"Bom HC | Protector Turns Predator: 11-year old child subjected to digital penetration and sexual assault; HC upholds lower Court&#8217;s decision","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"December 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Bombay High Court:\u00a0The Division Bench of Sadhana S. Jadhav and N.J. Jamadar, JJ., pens down the decision in the instant matter with the thought that \"protector turns predator\". The order of the Special Judge, Greater Bombay has been challenged, hereunder the appellant has been convicted for the offences punishable under\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":300975,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/07\/testimony-of-child-witness-can-be-relied-upon-in-sexual-assault-cases-if-it-is-trustworthy-and-unblemished-cal-hc-scc-blog\/","url_meta":{"origin":257033,"position":3},"title":"POCSO| Testimony of child witness can be relied upon in sexual assault cases if trustworthy and unblemished: Calcutta High Court","author":"Ritu","date":"September 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cIn cases involving child witnesses, the Court should consider the child\u2019s age, competency, and demeanor and may uphold a conviction even in the absence of other corroborating witnesses if the victim\u2019s testimony is deemed reliable.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"calcutta high court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/calcutta-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/calcutta-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/calcutta-high-court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/calcutta-high-court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":293207,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/05\/26\/delhi-high-court-did-not-interfere-conviction-in-pocso-case-based-on-child-victim-testimony-not-expected-to-have-mathematical-precision-in-recapitulating-harrowing-incident-legal-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":257033,"position":4},"title":"[POCSO] Not expected for 7-year-old child to recapitulate the harrowing incidents with mathematical precision; Delhi High Court upholds conviction based on child testimony","author":"Arunima","date":"May 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Delhi High Court observed that it cannot lose sight of the fact that alleged offence was committed with a child victim of tender age who got frightened by the threats extended to him by the accused as well as by the alleged act of the accused and it is not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"delhi high court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/delhi-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/delhi-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/delhi-high-court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/delhi-high-court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":242785,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/01\/25\/bombay-hc-on-sexual-assault-would-pressing-of-breast-and-attempt-to-remove-salwar-of-a-child-fall-under-s-7-and-punishable-under-s-8-of-pocso-act\/","url_meta":{"origin":257033,"position":5},"title":"[Reversed] Bombay HC on Sexual Assault | Would \u2018pressing of breast\u2019 and \u2018attempt to remove salwar\u2019 of a child fall under S. 7 and punishable under S. 8 of POCSO Act?","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"January 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"UPDATE: This Judgment of the Bombay High Court has now been reversed by a 3-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India after the matter was mentioned by the Attorney General for India and appeals were filed by the State of Maharashtra and the National Commission for Women. Bombay High\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8808"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}