New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has sentenced a man to rigorous imprisonment for five years for an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, modifying a trial court order that had directed his release after almost 10 months of incarceration.

A bench headed by Justice Mukta Gupta allowed the state's appeal against the trial court order releasing the convict on "the period undergone" at the stage of sentencing pursuant to his conviction and also directed him to pay a fine of Rs 25,000.

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Noting that the trial court "grossly erred" in its order, the bench, also comprising Justice Anish Dayal, said, "The sentence of the respondent is modified from the period already undergone to sentence of rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years and to pay a fine of Rs 25,000, in default whereof to undergo simple imprisonment for three months."

The order was passed on Thursday.

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The court directed the police personnel to "hand over the custody" of the convict, who was present before it, to the jail authorities.

The court observed that the deposition of the minor victim, who was four years old at the time of the incident, was not disputed and there was nothing to show that the convict did not commit an offence punishable under section 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of the POCSO Act, which provides for a minimum punishment of five years in jail.

"It is apparent that the learned special court grossly erred in noting the fundamental fact that conviction under section 10 of the POCSO Act entails a maximum punishment of imprisonment for five years with fine, whereas as per section 10 of the Act, it entails a minimum punishment of imprisonment for five years with fine and a maximum punishment of imprisonment for seven years with fine," the court observed.

"Section 10 of the POCSO Act provides for a minimum punishment of five years imprisonment. The learned special court grossly erred in releasing the respondent on the period already undergone, which as per the nominal roll, was nine months and 26 days on February 11, 2015, when he was released from custody," it added.

The court noted that the sentence was determined keeping in view the mitigating factors that the convict has to look after his family and has not been involved in any other offence.

It also clarified that the compensation amount of Rs 50,000 to be paid by the Delhi Legal Service Authority, as directed by the trial court, would remain the same.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)