Forcing happily-married couple to face trial would be irony of fate, says Allahabad HC

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court has quashed criminal proceedings under the POCSO Act, remarking that forcing a happily married couple to stand trial only for the woman to give hostile testimony would amount to an “irony of fate” and serve as an “instrument of harassment.”

In this case, the accused man had married the woman described as the victim, and she supported the plea to quash the FIR, denying the accusations made by her father.

Justice Kshitij Shailendra allowed Ashwani Anand’s petition, saying courts cannot act as “silent spectators” when justice requires intervention. In a November 21 order, the judge said it is a judge’s “pious duty” to “wipe every tear from every eye” and noted that the purpose of law is to offer solutions, not create societal problems.

The court observed that compelling a woman to repeatedly appear in court for years to help acquit her own husband — especially when she denies any wrongdoing by him — amounts to harassment.

The woman’s father had lodged the FIR, alleging that the petitioner had abducted his daughter in April 2024. Police later filed a charge sheet, even though the woman told investigators she left home voluntarily and denied any physical relationship at the time.