Presumption of guilt doesn't make prosecution case 'gospel truth': SC | India News - The Times of India

The Supreme Court ruled that the presumption of guilt under the Pocso Act should not automatically render the prosecution’s case as gospel truth, urging trial courts to carefully evaluate all evidence and not overlook contradictions. The decision could influence similar presumptions in eight other laws (NDPS, Prevention of Corruption, Wildlife, Essential Commodities, FA, Customs, FERA, and NI Act) by preventing automatic burden on the accused to prove their innocence.

Presumption of guilt doesn't make prosecution case 'gospel truth': SC | India News - The Times of India # Presumption of guilt doesn't make prosecution case 'gospel truth': SC Dhananjay.Mahapatra / TNN / Sep 19, 2026, 04:25 IST NEW DELHI: In a judgment that will impact as many as nine penal laws, Supreme Court has ruled that the stringent provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act providing for presumption of guilt of the accused must not persuade trial courts to believe the prosecution's case to be the "gospel truth". A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and N V Anjaria gave this ruling while setting aside concurrent judgments of a Delhi court and Delhi HC convicting a man, whom a woman had falsely accused of sexually assaulting her minor daughter in a Kalkaji slum in south Delhi in 2015. It said the accusation was part of a long-standing feud over water the woman had with him. The bench said both the trial court and HC appeared to have been swayed by the presumption of guilt provision in Pocso Act and overlooked glaring discrepancies and loopholes in the mother's testimony despite these being highlighted by the accused during cross-examination. Writing the judgment, Justice Anjaria said presumption of guilt in Pocso Act did not operate to eliminate evidence standing in favour of the accused. The statutory presumptions cannot be read to mean that the prosecution version is liable to be treated as gospel truth in every case," he said. The presumptive provision cannot unburden courts from "discharging their essential duty to analyse the evi…

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