[POCSO] Principal, Teacher Not Guilty Of Failure To Report Crime When Student's Complaint Was Sent To Police The Very Next Day: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has quashed the final report against a school principal and teacher for failing to report a sexual offence complaint received from a minor student on the same day. The Court stated that it cannot be justified to say that there was a wilful omission since the complaint was lodged with the police and FIR was registered on the next day itself.Justice A. Badharudeen stated that it was harsh to hold that the principal and teacher were liable since they reported the crime to the police on the next day. “To be more explicit, on getting information regarding the crime, if the matter is reported to the police on the next day, it is harsh to hold that there was failure to inform/report the crime to the police so that offence under Section 19 r/w 21 of the Police Act would get attracted. If the omission is only for a day fastening criminal culpability on the accused for the said short omission could not be justified. Here, the crime was made known to the petitioners on 17.11.2022. But the same was not informed to the police by the petitioners on 17.11.2022, but informed on the very next day. In such view of the matter, I am of the view that willful omission on the part of the petitioners in informing the crime as alleged could not be found to rope the petitioners into this crime with the aid of Section 19 r/w 21 of the Police Act.”In the facts of the case, a school principal and teacher who were arrayed as the 3rd and 4th accused have approached the High Court to quash the final report against them under Section 19 read 21 of the POCSO Act for failing to report sexual offences on receiving complaint from a minor student. Section 19 pertains to reporting offenses and Section 21 provides the punishment for failure to report a case. As per the prosecution case, the first accused sexually assaulted and sexually harassed a minor student on November 16. It is stated that the victim complained about the sexual offences to the principal on November 17 but the police were not informed on that day. It is alleged that the petitioners showed reluctance to inform the police on the same day and reported the sexual offence only on November 18, the next day after receiving the complaint. The petitioners stated that there was no wilful reluctance on their part in reporting the offence to the police. On the other hand, the Public Prosecutor stated that the principal showed some reluctance stating that the victim would have to face an ordeal since she would have to appear before the Court many times. It was also submitted that the Principal stated that the first also has a family and children and this would affect him also. It is stated that even the teacher showed hesitation in registering the FIR. The Court noted that failing to report to the police about the offence at least within 24 hours would attract an offence under Section 19 of the POCSO Act. In the same breath, the Court stated that it would be harsh to hold that the petitioners were liable since the police were informed the next day itself. The Court stated that making the petitioners liable for such a short omission could not be justified. As such, the Court quashed the final report against the principal and the teacher. Counsel for Petitioners: Senior Advocate S Sreekumar, Advocates P.Martin Jose, P.Prijith, Thomas P.Kuruvilla, R.Githesh, Anna Linda Eden, Ajay Ben Jose, Manjunath Menon, Sachin Jacob Ambat, Rizlana Nazar P.V., Harikrishnan S.Counsel for Respondents: Public Prosecutor M P PrasanthCase Number: CRL.MC NO. 7715 OF 2023Case Title: XXX v State of Kerala Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 644Click here to Read/Download Order

[POCSO] Principal, Teacher Not Guilty Of Failure To Report Crime When Student's Complaint Was Sent To Police The Very Next Day: Kerala High Court

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