The Delhi High Court has acquitted a man in a POCSO case, stating that the minor survivor's use of the term "physical relations" cannot be automatically interpreted as indicating sexual assault.

A bench comprising Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma overturned the life imprisonment sentence of the accused, allowing his appeal. The court noted that it was unclear how the trial court had inferred sexual assault, especially when the survivor had voluntarily accompanied the accused.

The court emphasized that the progression from terms like "physical relations" or "samband" to sexual assault, and further to penetrative sexual assault, must be substantiated by evidence and cannot be based solely on inference.

"The mere fact that the survivor is below 18 years cannot lead to a conclusion that there was penetrative sexual assault. The survivor, in fact, used the phrase 'physical relations', but there is no clarity as to what she meant by using the said phrase," the court said in the judgment passed on December 23.

"Even the use of the words 'samband banaya' is not sufficient to establish an offence under Section 3 of the POCSO Act or under Section 376 IPC. Though consent would not matter if the girl is a minor under the POCSO Act, the phrase 'physical relations' cannot be converted automatically into sexual intercourse let alone sexual assault," it held.

The court stated that the benefit of doubt must favor the accused and ruled, "The impugned judgment entirely lacks reasoning and provides no basis to support the conviction. In such circumstances, the judgment cannot stand. The appellant is acquitted."

The complaint in this case was filed in March 2017 by the minor girl's mother, who accused an unknown person of luring and kidnapping her 14-year-old daughter from their home. The minor was later found in Faridabad with the accused, who was arrested. In December 2023, the accused was convicted for rape under the IPC and penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.