The Rajasthan High Court has clarified that it is the duty of the POCSO Court to record the statement of the child at the earliest and that the proceedings of the case should not be delayed due to delay in getting the DNA report.
A single bench of Justice Pankaj Bhandari gave this order while rejecting the criminal appeal filed by Pradeep Yadav.
An FIR had been registered against Yadav at Police Station Singhana, Jhunjhunu, for offence under Sections 376 and 342 of
IPC, Section 3/4 of POCSO Act and Sections 3(1)(w), 3(2)(va) of SC/ST Act.
The appellant filed an appeal in the High Court against the order passed on November 8, 2019 by the Special Judge, POCSO Act, under which the petition seeking bail was rejected.
It was argued by the counsel appearing for the appellant that despite several instructions given by the court, the DNA report has not been received and the petitioner has been in custody for a period of more than one year.
“It is the duty of the POCSO court to record the statement of the child as soon as possible. The rape victim has specifically stated in her statement recorded under Section 164 CrPC that she was raped by the appellant and after that she became pregnant,” the court said.
“The appellant’s argument that the DNA report has not been received despite the court’s guidelines cannot be taken into account at this stage, as it is the primary duty of the POCSO court to record the statement of the child as soon as possible and the DNA report,” the court remarked.
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The criminal appeal was thus dismissed and the trial court was directed to proceed with the case and record the prosecution’s statement.