'Can't Turn Blind Eye To Reformative Purpose Of Imprisonment': Delhi High Court Reduces 3-Month Sentence Awarded To POCSO Convict

The Delhi High Court has reduced the sentence of 3 months imprisonment imposed upon a POCSO convict after 10 years of trial, stating that it cannot “uproot” him from the society after a decade.Justice Amit Mahajan observed that while the Court is cognizant of the gravity of the offences however, it cannot turn a blind eye to the reformative and rehabilitative purpose of the imprisonment.“As stated, the appellant has already integrated in society and he has not indulged in similar behaviour after the alleged incident,” the bench said.As per prosecution, the Appellant used to make dirty gestures at the school-going prosecutrix and on one occasion, even caught hold of her hand and asked her as to why she had complained about him at her home.He was convicted under Section 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act and Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 3 months.While the Appellant did not press challenge to conviction, rendered after 10 years of trial, he sought reduction of sentence to the 15 days period already undergone by him in custody during the course of investigation.It was submitted that a lenient view may be taken considering that the alleged incident dates back the year 2015, when he was only 18 years old, and that he and his parents have also apologised to the victim.The State and the victim did not object to reduction of sentence but the victim and her family apprehended that the appellant may try to contact her in the future.The High Court observed that the Appellant had not attempted to contact the victim in the past decade, during pendency of the trial. He had further undertaken to not contact the victim in the future. Thus it held,“it would not be fair to subject the appellant to undergo the remaining sentence merely on account of mere apprehension that is borne out of the trauma of the incident…If the appellant is subjected to undergo his remaining sentence, after more than a decade, the same would result in disgrace to the appellant and uproot him from the society.”As such, the Court commuted his sentence to the period of incarceration already undergone during investigation.Appearance: Mr. Ujwal Ghai and Mr. Arpit Sharma, Advs for Appellant; Ms. Kiran Bairwa, APP for the State with SI Akash Kumar, PS Bhajan Pura. Ms. Priyanka Sinha, Adv. for the victim. Victim (through VC) Father of the victim in person.Case title: Deepak Sain v. State NCT of DelhiCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1029Case no.: CRL.A. 469/2025Click here to read order

'Can't Turn Blind Eye To Reformative Purpose Of Imprisonment': Delhi High Court Reduces 3-Month Sentence Awarded To POCSO Convict

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