Summary
Appeal by special leave, confined to sentence, against conviction under Section 376AB IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act with a sentence of imprisonment for the remainder of natural life. The offence was committed on 20.05.2019, before the POCSO (Amendment) Act, 2019 came into force on 16.08.2019, so the enhanced punishment introduced by the amendment could not be applied without violating Article 20(1). Conviction upheld; sentence modified to rigorous imprisonment for life as understood under the unamended Section 6.
Issues
- Whether a sentence of imprisonment for the remainder of natural life under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, as amended in 2019, could be imposed for an offence committed on 20.05.2019, before the amendment came into force on 16.08.2019.
Provisions considered
- Section 6 (as it stood before the 2019 Amendment), Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012The unamended provision prescribed rigorous imprisonment of not less than ten years extending to imprisonment for life, with fine. Since the offence was committed on 20.05.2019, this provision governed the sentence; the maximum permissible was imprisonment for life in its conventional sense, not imprisonment till the remainder of natural life. (¶¶ 8, 9, 12, 13)
- Amendment to Section 6, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 2019The amendment, in force from 16.08.2019, enhanced the minimum sentence to twenty years and redefined imprisonment for life as imprisonment for the remainder of natural life. It could not be applied to an offence committed before it came into force. (¶¶ 6, 9, 12)
- Article 20(1), Constitution of IndiaNo person may be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at the time of commission of the offence. Applying the enhanced sentence introduced by the 2019 amendment to an offence committed earlier breached this clear and absolute bar. (¶¶ 10, 11)
Held
- The constitutional bar in Article 20(1) against retrospective imposition of a harsher penalty is clear and absolute. By applying the enhanced sentence introduced by the 2019 Amendment to Section 6 of the POCSO Act to an offence committed on 20.05.2019, before the amendment came into force on 16.08.2019, the Trial Court subjected the appellant to a punishment greater than that permissible under the law in force at the time of the offence, in violation of Article 20(1). (¶¶ 9, 11)
- The sentence of imprisonment for life meaning the remainder of natural life, as provided by the amended Section 6, did not exist in the statutory framework on the date of the incident; under the unamended Section 6 the maximum punishment was imprisonment for life in its conventional sense. (¶ 12)
- The conviction under Section 6 of the POCSO Act is upheld; the sentence is modified to rigorous imprisonment for life as understood under the unamended statute, the sentence of imprisonment for the remainder of natural life is set aside, and the fine of Rs. 10,000 is maintained. (¶ 13)
Result
Appeal partly allowed. Conviction under Section 6 of the POCSO Act upheld; sentence of imprisonment for the remainder of natural life set aside and substituted with rigorous imprisonment for life as understood under the unamended Section 6; fine of Rs. 10,000 maintained; pending applications disposed of.