– The Supreme Court of India has restored the conviction of a man who raped a minor girl after he was acquitted by the Calcutta High Court
– The High Court’s judgement had asked adolescent girls to “control their sexual urges”, which was criticised by the Supreme Court
– The Supreme Court noted that the High Court’s observations were in violation of the rights of the adolescents guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution
– The High Court had acquitted the man, stating it was a case of “non-exploitative consensual sexual relationship between two consenting adolescents”
– The accused was convicted of offences under Sections 363, 366 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act
– The Supreme Court observed that judges are not expected to express their personal views while writing judgements
– The Supreme Court took up the case suo moto and initiated a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution due to the observations made by the High Court
– The West Bengal government had also filed an appeal against the High Court’s verdict