Section 29 and 30 of POSCO Act: A Tripura High Court Judgement

Recently, the Tripura High Court in the case of Joubansen Tripura vs. The State of Tripura held that the conviction of an accused only on the basis of presumption under Section 29 and 30 of the POCSO Act would offend Article 20(3) and Article 21 of the Constitution of India. A Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice Arindam Lodh gave this judgment.In the case, an appeal was filed by the convicted appellant under Section 374 CrPC against the judgment of sentence and order of conviction passed by the learned Special Judge for the offense punishable under Section 6 of the POCSO Act.

Observations made by the Tripura High Court:The court observed that after meticulous reading of the Section 29 and Section 30 of the POCSO Act, the prosecution will start the trial with an additional advantage, that is the presumption of guilt against the accused person, and such presumption cannot form the basis of conviction of accused as it was not the object of the legislature.The prosecution is bound to put forth the foundational facts of the case and then it will be the obligation of the accused to prove his innocence by establishing from the evidence on record that he has not committed the offense.The court also held that “Presumption of innocence is a human right and cannot per se be equated with the fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”Further, the Court observed that Section 30 of the POCSO Act is not applicable in the offenses under Section 4, 6, 8, and 10 of the Act but the scope may be there for the accused if the charges were framed under Section 12 and 15 of the Act.