Ayyub Malik and Another vs State of Uttarakhand 2026 INSC 331 - IPC - POCSO

Indian Penal Code 1860 -POCSO Act - Fleeing with a girl who is not of marriageable age and who is minor is an offence under law, however, the subsequent development of marriage between the two lovers and the fact that they have been merrily living would outweigh the need to take the alleged offence or the criminal proceedings to their logical end (Para 6) - Aim of all legal proceedings is to arrive at justice, a meaningful and substantive. In some cases, the justice is done by bringing home the outcome in accordance with law, whereas in some matters, the action in law would deserve to be halted soon and terminated discontinuing the process, yielding to the legitimate demand of facts and warrant of circumstances. (Para 1) [Context: The complainant-father alleged that his minor daughter (stated as 17 years in the FIR) was enticed and taken away by appellant no. 1, leading to charges under IPC sections 363, 368, 376(2)(d) and POCSO sections 5(8) and 6, and the High Court refused to quash the proceedings under Section 482 Cr.PC. Before and around the time of the FIR, however, the girl and the accused had voluntarily married as per Muslim rites, later both were majors, a child was born, and she gave a Section 164 Cr.PC statement affirming her love, marriage and desire to live with him. The Supreme Court, relying in spirit on K. Kirubakaran and emphasizing that the ultimate aim of law is societal welfare and justice in real terms, held that in these facts further continuation of the criminal case would be an abuse of process, and therefore set aside the High Court’s order and quashed Criminal Case No. 10 of 2021 and all incidental proceedings against appellant no. 1.