Justice Sarang V Kotwal held that since the term ‘life imprisonment’ is not defined under POCSO Act, it would have to be given meaning in consonance with its meaning in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“The wording ‘life imprisonment’ is not defined under POCSO Act. However, those words are used under IPC and, therefore, reference will have to be made to IPC provisions and they will have to be relied on,” he held.
Since as per Section 57 of IPC, for calculating fractions of terms of punishment, imprisonment for life shall be reckoned as equivalent to imprisonment for twenty years, half of the same would amount to 10 years, the Court concluded.
Source: Barandbench
