POCSO--Penetrative Sexual Assault -- Non-Identification by Child Witness -- Failure of child to identify accused in court does not vitiate conviction where identity is otherwise established
(i) Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, S.3 -- Penetrative Sexual Assault -- Non-Identification by Child Witness -- Failure of a child witness to identify the accused in court after a long lapse of time does not by itself render the prosecution case doubtful, where identity of the accused is independently and conclusively established through other evidence. Testimony of a child witness is not to be discarded merely on a possibility of tutoring, so long as it inspires confidence and the substratum of the case remains intact. (ii) Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, S.31 -- Sentencing -- Concurrent or Consecutive Sentences -- A trial court must specify in its order whether sentences for multiple offences arising from a single transaction are to run concurrently or consecutively. Leaving this determination to jail authorities is an impermissible abdication of judicial discretion, and an aggregate consecutive sentence exceeding permissible limits violates the proviso to Section 31.
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