The Madras High Court has made it clear that if the act of an accused is an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), as well as the Schedule Caste and the Schedule Tribe (prevention of atrocities) Act (SC & ST), the Special Court established under the POCSO Act alone shall have jurisdiction to try the offender.
In such cases, the POCSO Special Court shall have powers to grant all the reliefs to the victim to which they are entitled to under the SC & ST Act, a Division Bench of Justices S. Nagamuthu (since retired)and P.N. Prakash said.
The Bench was specially constituted through an administrative order of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee to answer references made on the powers and jurisdictions of Special Courts constituted under the Acts, particularly with regard to the remand of an offender.
Answering the reference, the Bench said, “A comparison of the statement and objects and reasons of both the Acts would manifestly make it clear that in both the Acts, speedy trial is sought to be achieved.
“Though the object of both the Acts is to provide speedy trial, the POCSO Act seems to be a more comprehensive Act and it safeguards the interests of the child victim under the POCSO Act and the same Act shall take care of the children who belong to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes also.”
Further pointing out that the POCSO Act empowers a Special Court established under the Act to also try an offence other than the offence referred in the Act in the same trial, the Bench said, such powers were not provided to the Special Court under the SC & ST Act. This would indicate that the intention of the Legislature was to give overriding effect to the POCSO Act over the SC & ST Act.
Similarly, as to the power to remand an accused charged under the Acts, the court has made it clear that only the special court concerned has the jurisdiction to remand. But if the accused could not be produced within 24 hours before the jurisdictional special court, the investigating officer may produce him before the nearest Judicial Magistrate who may remand the accused to custody.
However, all the subsequent remands shall be made only by the Special Courts concerned, the Bench said.
