Delhi HC Slams Mother for ‘Weaponising’ Minor Daughter in False POCSO Case, Imposes Fine

New Delhi – The Delhi High Court has strongly criticised a woman for using her minor daughter “as a weapon” against her estranged husband by filing a false case under the POCSO Act. Dismissing her plea to summon the child’s grandmother and paternal aunts as accused, the court termed her actions a gross misuse of the judicial process.

Justice Arun Monga, in his September 2 order, remarked: “The matter becomes even more disturbing because the mother chose to use her own minor daughter as a weapon in this personal battle, thereby exploiting the child’s trauma for collateral purposes. Such conduct not only undermines the integrity and fairness of the proceedings but also trivialises the gravity of offences under POCSO Act by reducing them to instruments of vengeance.”

The case dates back to 2020, when the woman lodged an FIR alleging sexual abuse of her daughter by the father and cousins. She later moved the High Court against a trial court order that dismissed her application under the POCSO Act.

The High Court upheld the lower court’s findings, observing that the attempt to implicate the aged grandmother and paternal aunts, who had no role in the alleged incidents, reflected a deliberate design to entangle innocent family members in protracted litigation.

Calling it “needless and vexatious litigation” and a “sheer abuse of process of law,” the bench dismissed her petition and imposed an additional cost of ₹10,000, apart from the ₹20,000 fine levied earlier by the trial court.