The court described the case as shocking. 'He is a judicial officer and these are serious allegations of incest'
NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against a former judicial officer accused of sexually abusing his minor daughter.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan on Wednesday expressed strong reservations about the case, calling the allegations “shocking” and noting that the daughter must have been “scarred for life.”
The court’s decision underscores the seriousness of the allegations and the need for a thorough investigation.
“The daughter is making an allegation. It is a shocking case. He is a judicial officer and these are serious allegations of incest. This is shocking. And the daughter has made the allegations. She must have been scarred for life. How can this be a case for quashing?” the bench said, according to a PTI report.
The bench dismissed his appeal against a Bombay High Court order passed on April 15 this year, upholding the framing of charges by the trial court.
The bench did not agree to the submissions that the judge was framed due to the long-standing matrimonial dispute with his estranged wife and the case was a “counterblast” and lodged after his father died by suicide, allegedly after being harassed by the complainant’s side.
“We don’t want to get into all this. Suicide may be because of the son’s (judge) actions,” Justice Manmohan remarked.
“This man’s entire life has been ruined, starting with his matrimonial problems,” the counsel for the former judge said.
“His father committed suicide. The complaint was made much later and was never mentioned during earlier legal proceedings,” the lawyer added.
The bench, however, noted the serious allegations and charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against him.
The case stems from an FIR registered on January 21, 2019, in Bhandara, Maharashtra, after the alleged incidents of abuse took place between May 2014 and 2018.
The former judge was charged under Section 354 of IPC for assaulting a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty, apart from Sections 7, 8, 9(l), 9(n), and 10 of the POCSO Act, relating to various forms of sexual assault, including aggravated and incestuous abuse.
With the top court’s refusal to quash the charges, the former judge is expected to stand trial in a special POCSO court. – With inputs from Agencies
