St at e of Ut t arakhand v. Dr. Jit endra Mohan Agarwal

first ly, non- com poundable charact er, and secondly, are regarded as offences against societ y at large. The Court m ust , t herefore, be caut ious t o ensure t hat perm it t ing com pounding does not adversely affect t he vict im , convey an erroneous m essage t o societ y, or em bolden pot ent ial offenders.

10. As per t he m andat e of t he POCSO Act , t he st at em ent of a child vict im is not t o be recorded in open court , but in a specially designed environm ent , wit hout t he presence of t he accused, t o prevent t he incident from being ret riggered or t he vict im from being int im idat ed. The law also cont em plat es t hat t he child should be accom panied by his or her “ best friend,” a t erm denot ing t he person t he vict im t rust s t he m ost . I n t he present m at t er, t hat role is fulfilled by t he parent s of t he vict im child. Bearing in m ind t he param ount considerat ion of t he best int erest s of t he child v ict im , and wit h t he obj ect ive of personally int eract ing wit h her in what m ay be described as a form of j udicial counselling, int ended t o rule out any possibilit y of duress or pressure, t he vict im girl- child invit ed, along wit h her parent s, int o m y Cham bers during t he lunch break.

11. Aft er int eract ing w it h t he vict im girl- child and her parent s, it em erged t hat t he vict im does not w ish t o pursue t he m at t er furt her. On t he dat e of t he incident ( FI R dat ed 06.08.2024) , t he vict im was 16 years, 5 m ont hs, and 21 days old. As of 23.08.2025, she is 17 years, 5 m ont hs, and 25 days old, st ill wit hin t he am bit of a m inor under t he Juvenile Just ice Act and t he POCSO Act .

12. The vict im is present ly a Class 12t h st udent pursuing “ Biology”, wit h a prom ising prospect of becom ing a m edical officer. I n t he opinion of t his Court , if t he m at t er is not com pounded, it m ay adversely affect her psychology and her fut ure, pot ent ially hindering her growt h and developm ent . There m ay also be physiological im plicat ions. However, she has bravely m oved on and has st at ed her desire t o focus on her career and st udies and t o let go of t he past incident .

13. The vict im ’s parent s unequivocally affirm ed t heir consent t o her wish t hat t he m at t er be com pounded and brought t o a close once and for all. This Court is of t he considered view t hat , in t he peculiar fact s of t he present case, such com pounding would serve t he ends of j ust ice, wit h t he param ount considerat ion being t he bright and prom ising fut ure of t he vict im girl- child. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru apt ly st at ed, “ I have always felt t hat t he children of t oday will m ake t he I ndia of t om orrow, and t he way we t hem up will det erm ine t he fut ure of t he count ry.”

14. Considering t his as a special caseand keeping in view t he param ount considerat ion of t he well- being of t he vict im girl- child, her fut ure prospect s, and t he probabilit y of psychological t urm oil if her m ind rem ains ent angled wit h t he present proceedings, t hereby hindering her m ent al peace, t his Court is persuaded t o t ake an except ional view. While it is well- set t led t hat offences under t he POCSO Act are t reat ed as crim es against societ y at large and ordinarily ought not t o be com pounded, in t he overall assessm ent of t he fact s, t his Court finds t hat t he welfare and priorit ies of t he vict im m ust be placed at t he forefront .

15. For t he sake of her m ent al and em ot ional healt h, and in t he int erest of enabling her t o m ove forward t owards a bet t er t om orrow, t his case warrant s a depart ure from t he general rule.

16. Considering t he overall fact s and circum st ances, t his Court is of t he view t hat t he ends of j ust ice would be m et by quashing t he ent ire proceedings of Special Sessions Trial No. 836 of 2024, “ St at e of Ut t arakhand vs. Dr. Jit endra Mohan Agarwal,” arising out of FI R No. 191 of 2024, under t he j urisdict ion of Police St at ion Dineshpur, Dist rict Udham Singh Nagar, pending t he Court of learned FTC/ Addit ional Sessions Judge/ Special Judge ( POCSO) , Rudrapur, Dist rict Udham Singh Nagar. ORDER The Com pounding Applicat ion is allowed. The ent ire proceedings of Special Sessions Trial No. 836 of 2024, “ St at e of Ut t arakhand vs. Dr. Jit endra Mohan Agarwal,” arising out of FI R No. 191 of 2024, under t he j urisdict ion of Police St at ion Dineshpur, Dist rict Udham Singh Nagar, pending in t he Court of learned FTC/ Addit ional Sessions Judge/ Special Judge ( POCSO) , Rudrapur, Dist rict Udham Singh Nagar, are hereby quashed. The Crim inal Miscellaneous Applicat ion C- 528 No. 81 of 2025, “ St at e of Ut t arakhand vs. Dr. Jit endra Mohan Agarwal vs. St at e of Ut t arakhand and Anot her ”, filed under Sect ion 528 of t he Bharat iya Nagarik Suruksha Sanhit a, 2023, is accordingly disposed of. ( A sh i sh N a i t h a n i , J.) 1 3 .0 8 .2 0 2 5 Shiksha SHIKSHA BINJOLA DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=3410ef86ae41ec9fbabcd5dba6b3a2c24b5aa08b09c12f21 822fbd40bf639b1c, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=FD80A2D028949381C52796A542D7FF0A9BED00E6 7B5283D205F18FE29BDF5DD9, cn=SHIKSHA BINJOLA