Overview
- The Supreme Court used Article 142 on Wednesday to set aside a 2019 conviction under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and acquitted the man who had been sentenced to 10 years.
- The trial record shows the complaint was filed when the woman was a class 12 student and the sessions court convicted the man in 2019 while the Madras High Court later suspended the substantive sentence.
- The couple reconciled while the accused was on bail, later married after the woman reached majority, and the woman sought to withdraw or quash the case in the high court before moving the Supreme Court.
- Some reports say the woman demanded and the man paid Rs 10 lakh as a security or compensation during the top‑court process, a detail published in named outlets rather than recorded as an independent judicial finding in the reported order.
- The bench stressed the decision rests on the case's peculiar facts and will not be treated as precedent, a limitation that underscores how Article 142 is used sparingly to deliver complete justice in exceptional cases.