Justice Alok Kumar Pandey further held that the statement of the survivor under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) cannot be treated as substantive piece of evidence.
The Court therefore, acquitted an accused taking into account the fact that no effort was made by the prosecution to establish the victim’s age.
“Apparently, no exercise was carried out by the prosecution to establish that the victim was minor as on the date of occurrence by following the procedure prescribed under the Act in the light of reasoning put forth by the Supreme Court in case of Jarnail Singh”, the single-judge said.
The Court, therefore, set aside the trial court’s order of conviction after finding substance in the submission of the appellant that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the victim was minor when the incident occurred.
Source: Barandbench
