The stage of appellate proceedings arise after conclusion of the trial when the accused has either been acquitted or convicted.
Single-judge Justice Anil Pansare observed that sub-rule 15 of rule 4 of the POCSO Rules does not make the presence of the child and her family or the guardian obligatory for such proceedings.
“What is obligatory is to apprise the child’s family or the guardian etc. of child of the stage/status of the proceeding in order to facilitate the child, through family/ guardian etc. to appear before the Court if he/she desires to do so,” the Court noted.
By converting their entitlement to participate in appellate proceedings into an obligation, they have been put to further suffering and hardship as they face lot of difficulties to attend courts from remote locations
“The experience shows that almost in all cases the child along with parents is brought to the Court. They are required to travel from remote places to attend the Court and thus are put to financial loss as well. Most of them belong to economically weaker section because in almost all cases, they seek legal aid. None of them, in my tenure so far, have shown interest to participate in the proceedings. Thus, by converting their ‘entitlement to participate’ into ‘obligation to participate’ they have been put to further sufferance and hardship,” the Court said.
However, the Court clarified that such presence of child-victim and her family would be obligatory in cases of bail applications filed by the accused/ convict under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
“As could be seen, Section 439(1A) provides that the presence of the informant or any person authorized by him, which may include child or child’s family, shall be obligatory at the time of hearing of the application for bail in respect of the offences under the IPC,” the order said.
This has also been held by the Bombay High Court in the case of Arjun Kishanrao Malge vs. State of Maharashtra, the single-judge stated.
Source: Barandbench
