Sk. Rafijul @ Tutul vs State Of West Bengal on 4 August, 2026

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    Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)

    Sk. Rafijul @ Tutul vs State Of West Bengal on 4 August, 2026

    Author: Arijit Banerjee

    Bench: Arijit Banerjee

                                                                       2026:CHC-AS:1177-DB
                  IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
              CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
                           APPELLATE SIDE
    
                         CRA (DB) 54 of 2024
                          Sk. Rafijul @ Tutul
                                  Vs.
                         State of West Bengal
    
                                    With
    
                         CRA (DB) 74 of 2024
                                 With
                           CRAN 1 of 2024
                          Ukil Ali @ Akil Ali
                                  Vs.
                         State of West Bengal
    
    Before: The Hon'ble Justice Arijit Banerjee
                         &
            The Hon'ble Justice Apurba Sinha Ray
    
    
    
    For the Appellants in CRA   :    Mr. Sudipto Maitra, Sr. Adv,
    (DB) 54/24                       Mr. Vijay Verma,
                                     Mr. Dwaipayan Biswas
                                     Mr. Anik Bhattacharya
                                                      ...........Advocates
    For the appellants in CRA   :    Mr. Santanu Talukdar
    (DB) 74/24.                      Mr. Monojit Debnath
    
                                                  ........... Advocates
    For the State               :    Mr. Madhusudan Sur, ld. APP
                                     Mr. Nirupam Dhali
    
                                                    .........Advocates
    Reserved on                 :    07.05.2026
                                                                         2026:CHC-AS:1177-DB
    Judgment on                  :   04.08.2026
    
    
    
    
     Apurba Sinha Ray, J.
    

    1. The judgment and order of conviction dated 24.01.2024 and 25.01.2024

    passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, 2nd Court, Tamluk,

    SPONSORED

    Paschim Medinipur in Sessions Trial No. 9(8)16 arising out of POCSO

    Case no. 78 of 2014 convicting the appellant under Sections

    364/34/302/376D/120B of the Indian Penal Code and also under

    Section 6 of the POCSO Act has been challenged on the grounds, inter

    alia, that the learned Special Judge has unnecessarily placed reliance

    on the alleged last seen theory, that the Court has also misinterpreted

    the present law on extra judicial confession, that although several

    witnesses improved the version of the prosecution case during trial, the

    learned Trial Judge had relied upon those improved versions of the

    prosecution witnesses.

    2. Mr. Maitra, learned counsel appearing for the appellant Sk. Rafijul @

    Tutul has relied upon the following judgments in support of his

    contention.

    I. Manoj alias Munna vs. State of Chhattisgarh reported
    in AIR 2026 SC 241
    II. Sharad Birdhichand Sarda vs. State of Maharashtra
    reported in 1984 SCC (Cri) 487
    III.
    Smt. Basanti w/o prabhu vs. State of Himachal
    Pradesh reported in 1987 3 SCC 227
    IV. State of MP through CBI and ors. Vs. Paltan Mallah
    and ors. reported in 2005 3 SCC 569

    Page 2 of 19
    2026:CHC-AS:1177-DB
    V. Darshan Singh vs. State of Punjab reported in 2024 2
    SCC (CRI) 126
    VI. Vimal Suresh Kamble vs. Chaluverapinakeo Pal S.P
    and anr. Reported in 2003 3 SCC 175
    VII. Siddanki Ram Reddy vs. State of Andhra Pradesh
    reported in 2010 3 CC.r LR (SC) 28.

    VIII. Mahendra Singh & Ors. Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh
    reported in 2022 2 Crimes 319 SC
    IX. Naresh Anija alias Naresh Kumar Aneja vs. State of
    Uttar Pradesh & Anr. Reported in 2025 1 SCC
    (CRI)766.

    3. The factual matrix of the case is as follows:

    ‘On 12.10.2014 at 10.35 hrs the de facto complainant of this case

    PW-1/father of victim girl, lodged a written complaint before the

    Officer-in-charge of Belda P.S. alleging inter-alia that her sixteen-

    16 years minor daughter was a friend of ‘S’, another girl of their

    village. On 11.10.14 at about 07.00 p.m. ‘S’ called his daughter

    over the telephone. Accordingly the victim girl went with her. After

    that, his daughter was missing. Thereafter, the local villagers

    asked ‘S’ about it. Then she confessed that she forcefully handed

    over the victim girl to her boy friend Rafijul @ Sk. Tutul. According

    to their prior plan Rafijul came to their village in a maruti car with

    his friends and driver of the maruti car and they kidnapped the

    victim girl and fled away from that place by the said car.

    Thereafter, the villagers went to the house of Rafijul at Khandrui

    village but Rafijul was not there as he had fled away. On

    12.10.14 at about 09.00 a.m he was informed from Pataspur PS

    that he should go to Belda PS. After going there, he came to know

    Page 3 of 19
    2026:CHC-AS:1177-DB
    that the dead body of his daughter was found beside O.T Road at

    Belda. He identified the dead body of his daughter. It is alleged

    that according to their criminal conspiracy ‘S’, her boy friend Sk

    Rafijul and Ukil Ali kidnapped his minor daughter by maruti car

    no. WB 36A/5049. Thereafter they murdered his daughter and

    the body was thrown on O.T Road. The driver of the said maruti

    car was Bisu Ghorai. It is further alleged that ‘S’ confessed that

    the son of the de facto complainant refused to make any

    relationship with ‘S’ as such, out of revenge ‘S’ handed over the

    victim to the accused.’

    4. After the investigation was over and on receipt of the chargesheet, the

    appellants along with another accused Bishu Gorai were charged under

    Sections 364/34, 376 D, 302/34, 201/34, 120B of IPC and 6 of the

    POCSO Act. After recording the deposition of 28 witnesses, the learned

    Special Judge has convicted and sentenced the three accused persons

    under Sections 364/34/376D/302/34/120B of the IPC and Section 6 of

    the POCSO Act. From the records it appears that Sk. Rafijul filed a

    criminal appeal being No. CRA (DB) 54 of 2024 whereas another convict

    Ukil Ali @ Akil Ali has filed CRA (DB) 74 of 2024.

    5. Both the appeals are taken up for disposal by this common judgment.

    6. From the impugned judgment it appears that the learned Trial Judge has

    relied upon the allegation that the convicts were present at the spot and

    the victim was last seen with the convicts. It is further revealed that the

    learned Trial Judge has also relied upon the alleged extra judicial

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    confession of one CCL, that is, ‘S’ who was the friend of the victim ‘T’.

    The learned Trial Judge has also relied upon the deposition of PW 2 Sk.

    Raimat who allegedly saw the convicts present at the spot wherefrom the

    victim was abducted. He also saw the convicts who were waiting in a

    Maruti Van. The learned Trial Judge has considered the deposition of PW

    5 Nazrul Mallik who saw the convicts on the date of incident at Kharai

    bazar when the present appellant Rafijul alongwith other convicts

    stepped down from a steel coloured Maruti van. PW 5 has also deposed

    that the convicts told him that they were going to the house of ‘S’. The

    allegation that the victim’s mobile phone was recovered from the

    possession of the appellant Rafijul was also considered by the learned

    Special Judge in favour of the prosecution.

    7. It appears that learned Trial Judge has endorsed the view of the

    prosecution that although no direct evidence is adduced regarding

    murder and rape of the victim girl but common intention of the accused

    persons can be inferred from facts and circumstances of the case.

    Court’s view:

    8. After going through the materials on record, it appears that this is a case

    of circumstantial evidence and the chain of events may be narrated as

    hereunder.

    i) Victim ‘T’ received a phone call from her friend ‘S’, as per the

    deposition of the mother of the victim and other witnesses.

    ii) The victim left her house to meet her friend ‘S’.

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    2026:CHC-AS:1177-DB

    iii) According to PW 2 he saw 3 convicts were waiting in a Maruti

    Van.

    iv) According to the prosecution, PW 2 saw the victim ‘T’ and her

    friend ‘S’ were coming towards a stationary Maruti van.

    v) The victim did not return to her house for a considerable period

    of time.

    vi) Her mother became anxious and started searching for her

    daughter.

    vii) The daughter being not found, the mother of the victim alerted

    her neighbours and her husband.

    viii) Search for the victim was carried on at the instance of the

    parents and neighbours of the victim.

    ix) The victim’s friend ‘S’ was not found in her house and

    subsequently, she was found in the house of her grandmother

    which is a few yards away from her house.

    x) ‘S’ was interrogated by the parents and other neighbours.

    xi)     Initially, she did not disclose anything.
    
    xii)    Subsequently, she divulged that she handed over the victim to
    
    

    her boyfriend and the latter’s friends who took the victim to an

    unknown place in a Maruti van. The father and other

    neighbours including ‘S’ went to the house of the appellants at

    Khandrui village but neither the convicts nor the victim was

    found.

    Page 6 of 19

    2026:CHC-AS:1177-DB

    xiii) In the morning the dead body of the victim ‘T’ was found beside

    Orissa Trunk Road.

    xiv) Subsequently, the 3 convicts were arrested and their mobile

    phones were recovered.

    xv) It is also alleged that one mobile phone of the victim was

    recovered from the possession of the appellant Rafijul.

    xvi) One steel coloured Maruti van was seized from one of the

    convicts namely Bishu Ghorai.

    xvii) It is alleged that blood stains, signs of semen etc. were found in

    the seats and footsteps of the said car and the same were sent

    for chemical examination.

    Extra judicial confession:

    9. Needless to mention, a confession made by an accused outside of Court

    or to any person other than a Judicial Magistrate is historically viewed as

    a weak piece of evidence in Indian criminal jurisprudence, but at the

    same time, it can be said that if certain stringent conditions are fulfilled,

    such extra judicial confession can be used by the Court with some

    supporting corroborative evidence. Neither Indian Evidence Act, 1872 nor

    Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 explicitly define the term ‘extra

    judicial confession’, but its admissibility and evidentiary value emerge

    from the general principles governing confessions. For an extra judicial

    confession to form the basis of the conviction, the prosecution must

    establish three primary conditions.

    Page 7 of 19

    2026:CHC-AS:1177-DB
    Firstly, the voluntariness of confession: The confession must be free from

    any threat, inducement or promise as prohibited under Section 24 of the

    Evidence Act.

    Secondly, the truthfulness as well as trustworthiness of such confession:

    The Court must be convinced that the statement is true and made by a

    person in a sound state of mind without coercion.

    Thirdly, the credibility of the witnesses: Since the confession is proved

    through the testimony of the person to whom it was made, the credibility

    and independence of that witness are paramount. Therefore, the thumb

    rule is that as a rule of prudence rather than law, Courts generally seek

    corroboration in material particulars from independent evidence before

    relying solely on an extra judicial confession.

    10. In this case, the situation is quite different. The prosecution has

    relied heavily upon the alleged extra judicial confession of the CCL who

    was not tried by the learned Trial Judge during the prosecution of the

    appellants since the CCL being a juvenile was being tried separately

    under the provisions of Juvenile Justice Act. Therefore, there was no

    chance to confront the said accused (CCL) over such alleged confession

    nor even during examination under Section 313 Cr.P.C., since trials were

    different.

    11. In this case the learned Public Prosecutor has categorically argued

    that the witnesses namely PW 1 father of the victim girl, PW 7, the

    mother of the victim girl, PW 2 Sk. Raimat, PW 3 Sk. Sirazuddin, PW 4

    Ilius Mallick, PW 6 Sk. Imran Ali, PW 19 Abdul Hakim Mallick, PW 20

    Page 8 of 19
    2026:CHC-AS:1177-DB
    Sartaz Hossain, the brother of the victim have deposed before the Court

    that the friend of the victim (CCL) confessed before them that she called

    the victim ‘T’ over telephone and thereafter, handed over her to the 3

    convicts on the relevant date and time. Apart from PW 20 Sartaz

    Hossain, the other abovenamed witnesses have stated before the Court

    that ‘S’ further confessed before them that as the brother of the victim ‘T’

    refused to carry on his love relation with her, she did the same to take

    revenge.

    12. In Smt. Basanti w/o prabhu (supra), the Hon’ble Apex Court has

    been pleased to hold that extra judicial confession of a co-accused

    cannot be used against an accused.

    13. In the State of MP through CBI and Ors. (supra), the Hon’ble

    Apex Court was also pleased to hold that under Section 30 of the

    Evidence Act, the extra judicial confession made by a co-accused could

    be admitted only as a corroborative piece of evidence. In the absence of

    any substantive evidence against the accused persons the extra judicial

    confession allegedly made by another accused loses its significance and

    there cannot be any conviction based on such extra judicial confession.

    In the case in hand, according to prosecution, the FIR as well as the

    statements of three witnesses under Section 164 Cr.P. before the Judicial

    Magistrate has revealed that the CCL made such a confession at the

    relevant point of time when she was continuously interrogated by the

    parents and neighbours of the CCL. The question is whether or not such

    alleged extra judicial confession can be the sole basis to convict the

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    accused. It is well settled that such extra judicial confession of a co-

    accused is the weakest piece of evidence and there must be some

    substantive piece of evidence in support of such extra-judicial

    confession.

    14. PW 2 in his statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C. has also

    indicated that ‘S’ confessed that she sent victim ‘T’ with her friend Tutul.

    She has also stated before them that she knew the house of Tutul and

    asked the villagers to accompany her so that the victim could be brought

    back. He has made more or less same statement in his deposition. The

    statement of PW 6, Sk. Imran Ali before the Judicial Magistrate was that

    after visiting the house of the victim on the relevant night of occurrence

    he came to know that ‘S’ forced the victim to board the car of Tutul. He

    did not divulge from whom he came to know such fact. However, in his

    deposition before the learned Court he stated that ‘S’ confessed before

    them that she handed over the victim to Rafijul and others. So, there is

    an improvement of the prosecution case in this regard at the instance of

    PW 6.

    15. PW 5 Nazrul Mallick has stated before the Judicial Magistrate that

    he also came to know that victim ‘T’ was called by ‘S’ and thereafter ‘S’

    compelled her to board the Maruti van of the Tutul. In his deposition, he

    has made more or less the same statement. So, he did not hear ‘S’ to

    confess. No doubt, the deposition of PW 1 , PW 2, PW 7, PW 3 and the

    FIR were consistent in showing that there was confession from ‘S’

    regarding the complicity of the appellants but such alleged confession of

    Page 10 of 19
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    a co-accused cannot be used against other accused persons unless there

    are other materials showing the involvement of the said other accused

    persons.

    The missing links:

    16. In this case, it appears that the prosecution has tried to bring

    other materials on record in support of the involvement of the present

    appellants in commission of the crime. According to the prosecution, the

    mobile phone of the victim/ the mother of the victim was recovered from

    the possession of the present appellant Rafijul without sim card. The

    seizure list witnesses turned hostile. No effort was taken from the side of

    the prosecution to place such mobile phone without sim card for Test

    Identification with the help of the parents of the victim. Even during their

    examination before the Trial Court the said mobile was not shown to the

    parents of the victim to identify the same as mobile phone of the victim

    or her mother. The prosecution has relied upon some CDRs but they

    have not been marked as Exhibits. Although the prosecution has tried to

    show from CDRs that the mobile phone of the mother of the victim

    received calls from the phone numbers of other concerned persons, the

    same does not prove that the mobile without sim card allegedly recovered

    from Rafijul actually belonged to the victim or her mother. Moreover, the

    CDR remains unexhibited. This is a serious shortcoming in the case of

    the prosecution. Had it been proved beyond doubt that the mobile phone

    of the victim or her mother was recovered from the possession of the

    Page 11 of 19
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    appellant Rafijul, it would have given sufficient strength to the

    prosecution case against the appellant.

    17. Furthermore, the FSL report remains inconclusive. There is no

    matching of DNA of the convicts with the vaginal swab of the victim.

    Voluntariness of the alleged confession:

    18. Another aspect which should not be lost sight of by us is that the

    depositions of some of the witnesses are to the effect that initially the

    friend of the victim i.e. ‘S’ did not divulge anything but subsequently,

    when she was pressurised by her father and PW 3 Sk. Serajuddin, a

    member of the then Panchayat, ‘S’ allegedly confessed before them that

    she had compelled the victim to board the Maruti van brought by the

    appellant and his friends for abduction of the victim. Therefore, the

    alleged confession made by ‘S’ cannot be said to be made voluntarily or

    made without coercion. In view of the above the alleged extra judicial

    confession made by ‘S’ cannot be said to be a legal one and is thus not

    acceptable in the eye of law.

    Last Seen Together: Improvement of the case during trial

    19. Nobody saw the victim with the appellant Rafijul and his friends in

    the said Maruti van.

    20. In this case, although PW 2 Sk. Raimat has stated before the Court

    that he saw three convicts were waiting in a Maruti van at the relevant

    point of time and he saw that victim ‘T’ and her friend ‘S’ were coming

    towards the Maruti van, PW 2 did not state such thing at the time of his

    Page 12 of 19
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    examination under Section 164 Cr.P.C. If we peruse his statement under

    Section 164 Cr.P.C. although he has stated before the Judicial

    Magistrate that he saw one Maruti van was standing on the north-

    eastern corner of Chaltapukur, he did not mention that he saw three

    convicts were waiting in the said Maruti van. This is obviously an

    improvement of the prosecution case by the PW 2 during trial.

    21. PW 5 both at the time of recording his statement under Section

    164 Cr.P.C. and also at the time of his examination before the Court has

    stated that on the relevant date and time he saw the convicts in a Maruti

    van at Kharaibazar and one of them had disclosed that they are going to

    the house of ‘S’.

    22. In Darshan Singh (supra), the Hon’ble Apex Court was pleased to

    observe that if the Prosecution Witnesses had failed to mention in their

    statement under Section 161 Cr.P.C. about the involvement of an

    accused, their subsequent statements before Court during trial regarding

    involvement of that particular accused cannot be relied upon.

    23. In Vimal Suresh Kamble (supra), the Hon’ble Apex Court has

    reiterated the same principle.

    24. It appears that during the recording of his statement under Section

    164 Cr.P.C. PW 2 did not say that he saw the 3 convicts waiting in the

    Maruti van. From the record it transpires that the said convicts were not

    placed in TIP during investigation and PW 2 was not asked to identify

    those accused as the persons who were allegedly waiting in the Maruti

    van. Although there was no TIP, PW 2 identified the convicts on the dock

    Page 13 of 19
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    after a considerable period of time. Therefore, such evidence of PW 2

    cannot be said to be free from blemishes since, it is very much difficult

    for any person to identify the accused after a long period of time

    particularly when those persons were not known to PW 2. PW 5, has

    categorically stated that he saw the three accused coming down from a

    steel coloured Maruti van at Kharaibazar. Although the said Maruti van

    was seized, the same was not placed for identification with the help of

    PW 2 and PW 5.

    25. Although, the depositions of PW 2 and PW 6 show that they had

    deposed categorically that victim ‘T’ and her friend ‘S’ were last seen

    together, no evidence is forthcoming that the victim was seen alongwith

    the three convicts at the relevant point of time. It is true that depositions

    of some of the witnesses reveal that the alleged place of abduction was a

    desolate place and if the abduction of a girl were done therefrom, there

    was least chance to witness such abduction. That is a vital point in

    favour of the prosecution. But it appears that the prosecution is under a

    duty to prove the involvement of the present convicts with the

    commission of the crime. It appears that although blood stains and

    semen were found in the seats or footsteps of the seized car, the FSL

    report remained inconclusive and did not support the prosecution case.

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    Circumstantial Evidence:

    26. Needless to mention that even if there is no direct evidence, a case

    can be proved on the basis of circumstantial evidence. The essential

    principle of applying circumstantial evidence is well known. However, for

    recapitulation, we must say that the chain of events is to be established

    in such a way that there cannot be any doubt that no other person apart

    from the accused is responsible for the commission of the offence. In this

    case, there are circumstances/events, but we have no doubt that the

    chain of events is not complete and sometimes we have found that the

    chain is broken and therefore, the conviction cannot be upheld on the

    basis of such circumstantial evidence. In the case in hand nobody saw

    the victim to get into the steel coloured Maruti van. There is no evidence

    that the victim was seen lastly with the appellants. The alleged recovery

    of the mobile phone of the victim/her mother from the possession of the

    appellant Rafijul was not proved beyond doubt; the said mobile phone

    was not placed for identification by the parents of the victim to verify that

    the said mobile phone belonged to the victim /her mother and the same

    was recovered from the possession of the appellant Rafijul without sim

    card. The CFSL report does not prove that the alleged blood stain and

    sign of semen belonged to the victim and the appellants respectively.

    Therefore, we have no doubt that there are missing links and the

    prosecution has failed to prove the essential ingredients of foundational

    facts.

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    27. In Manoj @ Munna (supra) the Hon’ble Supreme Court has

    discussed the landmark judgment of Sharad Birdhichand Sarda

    (supra). In Sharad Birdhichand Sarda (supra), the Hon’ble Supreme

    Court has been pleased to lay down the basic principle to the effect that

    “it is well settled that the prosecution must stand or fall on its own legs

    and it cannot derive any strength from the weakness of the defence.” For

    the proper understanding of the principle laid down in the aforesaid

    case, the paragraphs 153 and 154 of the said decision are quoted

    hereinbelow:-

    “153. A close analysis of this decision would show that the
    following conditions must be fulfilled before a case against
    an accused can be said to be fully established:

    (1) the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to
    be drawn should be fully established.

    It may be noted here that this Court indicated that the
    circumstances concerned “must or should” and not “may be”

    established. There is not only a grammatical but a legal
    distinction between “may be proved” and “must be or should
    be proved” as was held by this Court in Shivaji Sahabrao
    Bobade v. State of Maharashtra
    [(1973) 2 SCC 793 : 1973
    SCC (Cri) 1033 : 1973 Crl LJ 1783] where the observations
    were made: [SCC para 19, p. 807: SCC (Cri) p. 1047]
    “Certainly, it is a primary principle that the accused must be
    and not merely may be guilty before a court can convict and
    the mental distance between ‘may be’ and ‘must be’ is long
    and divides vague conjectures from sure conclusions.”

    (2) the facts so established should be consistent only with the
    hypothesis of the guilt of the accused, that is to say, they

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    should not be explainable on any other hypothesis except
    that the accused is guilty,
    (3) the circumstances should be of a conclusive nature and
    tendency,
    (4) they should exclude every possible hypothesis except the
    one to be proved, and
    (5) there must be a chain of evidence so complete as not to
    leave any reasonable ground for the conclusion consistent
    with the innocence of the accused and must show that in all
    human probability the act must have been done by the
    accused.

    154. These five golden principles, if we may say so,
    constitute the panchsheel of the proof of a case based on
    circumstantial evidence.”

    28. In the case in hand the said five golden principles as referred to

    above are not satisfied.

    29. In view of the above we have no hesitation to point out that the

    above discrepancies found in the prosecution case were not properly

    considered and appreciated by the learned trial judge who relied upon

    the extra judicial confession of a co-accused, last seen together theory

    and recovery of the alleged mobile phone of the victim from the

    possession of the appellant Rafijul without scrutinising that such

    available materials are unacceptable in the eye of law as clinching

    evidence against the convicts.

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    Juvenility of the appellant Ukil Ali:

    30. During pendency of this appeal the plea of juvenility of another

    appellant Ukil Ali was taken and this Court directed the learned Chief

    Judicial Magistrate to make an enquiry regarding the plea of juvenility in

    accordance with law. By a report dated 20.12.2025 the learned Chief

    Judicial Magistrate has categorically stated that the appellant Ukil Ali

    was minor at the time of occurrence as per report of the concerned

    school where he studied for sometime. We have considered the said

    report and we have found that such enquiry was done on the basis of

    cogent materials and we have no different opinion as to the juvenility of

    the appellant Ukil Ali at the relevant point of time. In the said report the

    mother of the appellant Ukil Ali disclosed that she was unable to produce

    relevant documents concerning the age of the appellant Ukil Ali before

    the learned Trial Judge and obviously the plea of juvenility was not taken

    up by the said appellant properly before the learned Trial Judge.

    However, as it appears that the appellant Ukil Ali was a minor at the

    time of the alleged commission of offence, the trial and the judgment of

    conviction and order of sentence dated 24.01.2024 and 25.01.2024

    against the appellant Ukil Ali cannot be sustained under the law since

    the trial was conducted by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, 2nd

    Court, Tamluk, Paschim Medinipur without having any jurisdiction to try

    the juvenile and accordingly the judgment of conviction and order of

    sentence dated 24.01.2024 and 25.01.2024 so far as regards the

    appellant Ukil Ali is set aside. The appellant Ukil Ali has already been

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    released on bail on executing personal bond. His personal bond is

    discharged.

    31. Accordingly, CRA (DB) 54 of 2024 and CRA (DB) 74 of 2024 are

    hereby allowed on contest. The judgment and order of conviction dated

    24.01.2024 and 25.01.2024 passed by the learned Additional Sessions

    Judge, 2nd Court, Tamluk, Paschim Medinipur in Sessions Trial No.

    9(8)16 arising out of the POCSO Case no. 78 of 2014 convicting the

    appellant Rafijul @ Tutul and Ukil Ali are hereby set aside. They are

    acquitted from the charges. The appellants be released from their

    custody immediately, if not already released, unless they are required to

    be in custody in connection with any other case.

    32. Accordingly, CRA (DB) 54 of 2024 and CRA (DB) 74 of 2024 with

    connected applications, if any, are hereby disposed of.

    33. Urgent photostat certified copies of this judgment, if applied for,

    be supplied to the parties on compliance of all necessary formalities.

    I Agree.

    (ARIJIT BANERJEE, J.)                          (APURBA SINHA RAY, J.)
    
    
    
    
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