New Delhi: Ending the plight of a man booked under Pocso Act after the hospital where his underage wife delivered a child alerted police, Delhi High Court has quashed the criminal case.It allowed the joint plea of the accused husband and the now-adult wife to quash the case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, noting that continuing the matter would lead to “manifest injustice” and the “revictimisation” of the wife and the infant.Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani highlighted the “enormous consequences that would befall not only wife but also her infant, both of whom would be left completely bereft of any support and sustenance if the petitioner were to be imprisoned” and granted the relief.In the process, the court also laid down advisory guidelines for courts to follow when faced with such a situation where there is no actual victim who has suffered, but Pocso kicks in due to one party being a minor.“Ultimately, the decision to quash criminal proceedings under Pocso Act must be founded on the best interests of the de jure victim and the children, if any, born from the union of the parties,” HC observed.It cautioned that “though quashing of criminal proceedings under Pocso Act is not anathema to law, such quashing demands careful and sensitive consideration of the fact situation. When examining (such) a plea… based on the consent of a de jure victim, the court must carefully evaluate the reasons as to why the victim disclaims any loss or injury to her and must record its satisfaction”.The judge said courts must also be satisfied that “in granting a ‘no-objection’ to the quashing of criminal proceedings, the de jure victim is genuinely acting on her own free will and volition and has not been misled, pressurised or deceived into offering such no-objection” and that she has “taken a consistent stand in favour of closing the case… from the inception of the criminal proceedings, and has disclaimed that she has suffered any loss or injury at the hands of the offender”.It added that in case the parties are married, courts must verify that “the marriage or other arrangement…, based on which the offender and the de jure victim are seeking closure of criminal proceedings, evokes confidence… or does it appear to be a ruse or stratagem of the offender to evade conviction and punishment”.Justice Bhambhani underlined that most importantly courts must find out “if the offender is alleged to have committed any violence or brutality on the victim or has committed any other act or omission… and if so, is there any medical and other forensic evidence to show such conduct on the offender’s part”.Lastly, HC clarified that before quashing any criminal proceedings under Pocso, the court must interact with the parties and “arrive at a subjective satisfaction that the quashing of the case is warranted on larger considerations of justice and to prevent abuse of the process of law”.In this case, the husband was nearly 22 years old and the woman 17 years and two months old when they married according to Sikh rites and rituals. A male child was born in June 2025. Doctors at Safdarjung Hospital discovered the mother was a minor and informed police.