RENOJ R.S. Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By an order dtd. 2/9/2022, this Court had granted bail to the petitioner under sec. 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. However, since a legal question regarding conflict between two statutes arose, it was decided to consider the matter in detail. Hence, despite granting bail to the petitioner, the case was heard in detail on subsequent days.

(2.) The issue to be resolved relates to the manner and forum for filing an application for bail when offences under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (for brevity 'the POCSO Act') as well as the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter referred to as 'the SC/ST Act') are both alleged to have been committed in the same crime.

(3.) The prosecution in the present case alleged that the defacto complainant/victim, aged just 15 years, was in a relationship with the first accused and on 16/7/2022, petitioner, who is the second accused, slapped the victim and scolded her using filthy language thereby committing offences under the Indian Penal Code,1860 apart from the POCSO Act. The prosecution also included provisions of the SC/ST Act since it was learnt that the victim was a member of the Scheduled Caste.