The court rejected the plea to quash the FIR, which had been filed under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has refused to quash an FIR against a 29-year-old labourer and his family, who are accused of marrying a minor girl who later gave birth in Maharashtra’s Akola district.
A division bench of Justices Urmila Joshi Phalke and Nandesh S Deshpande observed that the girl was a minor at the time of marriage as well as when she was subjected to a physical relationship.
The court rejected the plea to quash the FIR, which had been filed under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The FIR was registered on July 1, 2025, by Police Head Constable Rahul Tayade of Telhara Police Station, after receiving information that a 17-year-old girl had delivered a baby boy on May 10, 2025.
The accused, a man and his family, claimed that there was a relationship between the man and the minor, and when the family became aware of it, a marriage was performed on June 2, 2024, as per Muslim rites. Since the girl was a minor at the time, they said the marriage was legally registered only after she turned 18.
Appearing for the accused, Advocate SV Sirpurkar submitted that the relationship was consensual and the couple is now living together peacefully. He argued that continuing the legal proceedings could harm the victim and disturb their family life, requesting the court to treat the case as an exceptional instance of adolescent relationship.
“If the proceedings are not quashed, it may lead to a rift in the relationship, ultimately causing harm to the victim herself. The statements made by the parents indicate that there was a love affair between the girl and the man, and upon learning of this, they arranged their marriage,” Sirpurkar said.
Advocate Yash Venkatraman, appearing for the girl, also supported the man’s plea and said the victim is now settled in life and the FIR should be quashed in view of her current circumstances.
Additional Public Prosecutor Sneha Dhote, opposing the plea, submitted that the accused was aware of the girl’s age and that the birth of the child confirms the offence. She said the girl’s consent is irrelevant under POCSO, as she was a minor.
Dhote noted, “even if the consent is there, it is not relevant, the marriage was performed by the applicants.”
The court referred to ongoing proceedings before the Supreme Court on the question of adolescent relationships under POCSO and cited the Union Government’s stand that the age of consent must not be lowered, to safeguard minors from exploitation.
“A fact that cannot be overlooked is that the man is 29 years old and, at the time of the incident, or the alleged marriage, he was approximately 27. At the very least, he ought to have understood that he should wait until the girl attained the age of 18. Despite knowing she was a minor, he took her away from the lawful custody of her parents, and from that moment onward, he committed an offence,” observed the bench, adding that “the mere fact that the girl has now given birth to a child does not absolve the applicants of their actions. In our view, their conduct cannot simply be ignored.”
