DINESH vs STATE

Judgment text excerpt

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Judgment delivered on:23.06.2025 + CRL.A. 688/2023 & CRL.M.(BAIL) 1318/2023 DINESH .....Appellant versus STATE .....Respondent Advocates who appeared in this case: For the Appellant : Mr. Harsh Prabhakar, Adv. (DHCLSC) with Mr. Dhruv Chaudhary and Mr. Shubham Sourav, Advs. For the Respondent : Mr. Sunil Kumar Gautam, APP for the State with SI Rajni Kant, PS Kirti Nagar. Mr. Rohan J. Alva, Adv. (Amicus Curiae) for the victim with Mr. Anant Sanghi, Adv. CORAM HON’BLE MR JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN JUDGMENT 1. The present appeal is filed against the judgment dated 16.05.2023 (hereafter ‘impugned judgment’) and order on sentence dated 31.07.2023 (hereafter ‘impugned order on sentence’) passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge (‘ASJ’), Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi in New SC. No. 664/2017 arising out of FIR No. 321/2017 (‘FIR’). Signature Not Verified Signed By:SHIKHA SEHGAL CRL.A. 688/2023 Page 1 of 20 Signing Date:26.06.2025 18:50:14 2. By the impugned judgment, the learned ASJ convicted the appellant for the offences under Sections 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’) and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (‘POCSO Act’). By the impugned order on sentence, the learned ASJ sentenced the appellant to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 15 years and to pay a fine for a sum of ₹10,000/- for the commission of the offence under Section 6 of the POCSO Act. 3. The FIR was registered on a complaint given by the father of the victim. The complainant resided with the widow of his brother ‘Ms. G’ and his children. It is alleged that on 17.05.2017 at about 5:00 PM when Ms. G returned home from work, she saw blood on the back side of the pajama of the victim. Upon asking, the victim alleged that whi