POCSO Act- The law should be used to achieve a meaningful purpose, The potential for irreparable damage to the victim by the use of the law contrary to its meaningful purpose.

The Allahabad High court while granting bail to an accused of POCSO Act said- The purpose of POCSO Act is not to ruin the lives of those teenagers. those who inadvertently grew closer, formed a love affair and married with the determination to spend life together.

According to the case,in November 2019, the father of the minor girl filed a Complaint against the accused under sections 363,366 and 376 of Indian Penal code and sections of POCSO Act and SC/ST Act. Both the accused and the victim had run away from home and got married in the temple. While living together for two years, the victim gave birth to a child. After the search, the police finally recovered the victim. The victim was a minor at the time of the incident,so the police sent the victim to the shelter home in Khuldabad,Prayagraj and sent the accused to the jail. In November 2021, the accused applied for bail in the sessions court, Fatehpur. The Special Judge (POCSO) rejected the bail application of the accused. Thereafter the accused applied for bail in the High Court.

Justice Rahul Chaturvedi while Considering the bail application said- there is a need to understand the physical and psychological needs of teenagers in the current situation. Teenagers are attracted to each other due to mutual infatuation and weave the fabric of their future. The court said that if the provisions of the Act are implemented in a hasty or irresponsible manner,it can spoil the future life of that innocent loving couple. Those who run away from home due to love and got married in the temple,lived together for about two years and also gave birth to a child. The court was of the view that the rigor of the POCSO Act should not become a hindrance in their path. Keeping in view the fact that the victim was not sexually assaulted in the present case. The court emphasized that the victim girl has expressed her desire to be with the accused. In such situation it is extremely harch and inhuman to deprive the child of the loving couple from the love and affection of the parents. While accepting the bail application of the accused, keeping in mind the future of the victim and her child, the court imposed a condition on the accused. The accused shall present before the court a bank draft of₹ 5,00000 in favour of his wife (victim) and children with in a period of six months from the date of his release on bail. The court directed the Operator of the shelter home to hand over the girl living in shelter home along with her child to the husband (accused)