No Legal Mandate That Two Years Must Be Added To Outer Age Limit Determined By Ossification Test
Case: Gobardhan Gadaba @ Gadava v. State of Odisha
Coram: Justice Sashikanta Mishra
Case No.: Crlrev No. 247 Of 2007
Court Observation: “…there is no law which mandates that in each and every case two years have to be added to the outer age limit determined by the ossification test. It would rather be prudent for the Court to accept the higher range of the age determined by the ossification report which, in the instant case is 16 years.”
“It is also trite that the victim of a rape is not an accomplice rather her position is like that of an injured witness. Ordinarily, the evidence of a prosecutrix should not be suspected and should be believed, and if the evidence is reliable, no corroboration is necessary. The conviction can be based on the sole testimony of a prosecutrix if it is implicitly reliable and there is a ring of truth in it. Thus, the position of law is that the conviction can be based even on sole testimony of the prosecutrix provided it is natural, trustworthy and worth being relied upon.”
“Even otherwise, the age of the victim would be relevant, had there been any evidence, even remotely, of she being a consenting party to the sexual intercourse. As has already been discussed hereinbefore there is no such evidence to support the theory of consensual sexual intercourse. In such view of the matter, even assuming for a moment that the victim was aged about 18 years at the relevant time, the same shall not enure the benefit of the accused in any manner whatsoever.”
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Keywords
No Legal Mandate, Ossification Test
