Vijay Ramesh Dantani vs 1. The State Of Maharashtra 2. XYZ

The Appeal is partly allowed.

The conviction of the Appellant under Section 376 of the IPC passed by the Special Judge under POCSO Act, 2012 in POCSO Special Case No. 41 of 2015 is maintained. The conviction and sentence under Section 5 r/w Section 6 of the POCSO Act, 2012 is modified to a conviction and sentence under Section 3 r/w Section 4 of the POCSO Act, 2012. However, the sentence of life imprisonment is set aside. Instead, the Appellant is sentenced to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for 12 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/- for commission of offence punishable under Section 4 of the POCSO Act, 2012. In default of payment of fine, he shall undergo simple imprisonment of one month. No separate sentence is imposed for the offence punishable under Section 376 of the IPC, in view of Section 42 of the POCSO Act, 2012.

The direction of the Special Court awarding the compensation of Rs. 25,000/- under section 33(8) of the POCSO Act is maintained.

Since the appeal is disposed of, all pending applications stand disposed of.

(SHREERAM V. SHIRSAT, J.) (MANISH PITALE, J.)