Delhi High Court Acquits Sonu Punjaban In Trafficking Case, Finds Prosecutrix's Testimony Unreliable

The Delhi High Court has set aside the conviction of Geeta Arora, popularly known as Sonu Punjaban, in a case involving allegations of trafficking and sexual exploitation of a minor, holding that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt due to serious inconsistencies in the testimony of the prosecutrix.Justice Chandrasekharan Sudha observed that while a conviction can be sustained on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix, such testimony must be of “sterling quality” and inspire confidence. “However, in the present case, in view of the otherwise unreliable testimony of PW1, the absence of any reference to A2, who is alleged to be the main culprit who started off the series or chain of sexual assault, does appear strange,” the bench observed.A key contradiction noted by the Court related to the year of the alleged incident. While the FIR and the Section 164 statement referred to the year 2006, the prosecutrix later claimed during trial that the incident occurred in 2009, attributing the earlier version to a mistake. The Court held that such a discrepancy went to the root of the prosecution case and could not be treated as a minor inconsistency.The High Court further found that the prosecutrix had made significant improvements in her testimony during trial, including introducing new allegations such as being administered intoxicating substances and losing consciousness prior to the alleged assault. It noted that certain allegations, particularly regarding rape, were not consistently maintained across her earlier statements.The Court also took note of shifting versions regarding the role of different accused persons, including contradictory stands on whether certain individuals had sexually exploited her or helped her recover from her situation. Such “mutually destructive” versions, the Court held, undermined the credibility of the witness.Additionally, the Court observed that the prosecutrix had lodged multiple FIRs during the relevant period making similar allegations of being lured, intoxicated, and sexually assaulted by different persons, and had even retracted allegations in at least one instance. This pattern, according to the Court, cast a serious doubt on her reliability.The Court also observed that investigation in the present case also suffered from serious deficiencies as several persons allegedly involved in the chain of trafficking were neither properly identified nor apprehended. “It is true that defects in investigation cannot always enure to the benefit of the accused. But in the case on hand, the failure of the investigating agency to trace these crucial links in the prosecution story further weakens the case against the appellants,” the Court said.In these circumstances, the Court allowed the appeals and set aside the conviction and sentence. Appearance: Mr. Akshay Bhandari, Ms. Megha Saroa, Mr. Kushal Kumar, Mr. Janak Raj Ambavat and Mr. Anmol Sachdeva, Advocates for Appellant; Mr. Utkarsh, APP for State with SI Pramod Kumar, Cyber Cell, Crime Branch. Mr. Faraz Maqbool, Ms. Sana June and Ms. A. Sahitya Veena, Advocates (DHCLSC) for respondent no. 2. Case title: Geeta Arora @ Sonu Punjaban v. StateCitation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 300Case no.: CRL.A. 413/2020Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Acquits Sonu Punjaban In Trafficking Case, Finds Prosecutrix's Testimony Unreliable

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