Offence Within Restaurant Not 'House Trespass' As Per Sections 442, 452 IPC : Supreme Court

Observing that a restaurant cannot be said to be either a place used for human dwelling or worship or the custody of the property, the Supreme Court set aside the conviction of a person accused of the offence of "house trespassing after preparation for hurt" under Section 452 of IPC.

The bench comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma noted that the Restaurant does not meet the criteria of a "house" under Section 442 IPC because it is neither a dwelling, a place of worship, nor a place for the custody of property. Thus, the necessary element for an offence under Section 452 was not fulfilled.

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As per Section 442 of IPC, the offence of House Trespass is said to be committed by entering into or remaining in any building, tent, or vessel used as a human dwelling or any building used as a place for worship, or as a place for the custody of property.

Section 452 of the IPC punishes an act of entering or remaining on a property after preparing to cause harm or commit other criminal acts.

“452. House-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint.—Whoever commits house-trespass, having made preparation for causing hurt to any person or for assaulting any person, or for wrongfully restraining any person, or for putting any person in fear of hurt, or of assault, or of wrongful restraint, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend.”

Canada Overhauls Visa Policy, Ends Ten-Year Tourist Visa Validity

Canada has updated its visa policy, allowing officers to issue single or multiple-entry visas.

The Canadian government has revised its visa policy and will no longer issue tourist visas with a validity of up to ten years, shifting away from the practice of issuing multiple-entry visas.

Under the new guidelines, immigration officers will now have the discretion to decide whether to issue a single-entry or multiple-entry visa and to determine the appropriate validity period. Earlier, the multiple-entry visa allowed the holder to enter Canada from any country as often as necessary during the visa’s validity period. It had a maximum validity of up to 10 years or until the expiry of the travel document or biometrics.

Sexual Assault Under POCSO Can't Be Quashed Based On 'Compromise', Offence Is Heinous & Not Of Private Nature : Supreme Court

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The bench comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Kumar observed that matters related to sexual assault cannot be treated as private matters eligible for compromise-based quashing. The Court emphasized the societal impact of such crimes and mandated that proceedings continue in the interest of justice.

“Obviously, rubbing the breast of a child would constitute an offence of 'sexual assault' under Section 7 of the POCSO Act, punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than three years and may extend to five years and also fine. They would reveal that the commission of such offences against the children should be viewed as heinous and serious. Needless to say, that commission of such offences cannot be taken lightly as offences of private nature and in fact, such offences are bound to be taken as offences against the society.”, the Court observed.

Reference was made to the decision in State of M.P. v. Laxmi Narayan (2019) 5 SCC 688 which held that an offence against the society cannot be compromised.

The Court also approved the judgment of the Delhi High Court in Sunil Raikwar v. State and Another, which held that a POCSO Act offence cannot be "permitted to be settled."

"Because of the very object and purpose of enacting the POCSO Act, we find no reason to disagree with the conclusions in paragraph 12 (of the Delhi HC judgment) extracted above in the given case," the Supreme Court stated.

The Court also rejected the respondent's argument that the third person/appellant had no locus standi to challenge the quashing of FIR as they were not part of the criminal proceedings. The Court said that the offence of sexual assault, being grave and impacting society, cannot be categorized as a private dispute disentitling the appellant's locus to challenge FIR quashing.

“Because of the nature of the offences alleged against the third respondent, one can only say that if they are proven they could be treated only as offences against the society and at any rate, it cannot be said that prosecuting an offender against whom such allegations are made is not in the interest of the society. In fact, it would only be in the interest of the society. In that view of the matter, when by quashing the FIR by invoking the power under Section 482, Cr. P.C., the accused was relieved of the liability to face the trial coupled with the aforesaid circumstances and the position of law qua locus standi of third party to maintain a petition under Article 136 of the Constitution of India, as revealed from the decisions referred above, we have no hesitation to hold that the challenge based on the appellants' locus standi got no merit at all.”, the court observed.

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, overturning the High Court's order and directing that criminal proceedings against the accused continue. Emphasizing that POCSO Act cases involve serious public interest, the Court held that such matters should not be dismissed solely based on a compromise between parties.