Slamming the police for “total ignorance of basic investigative protocols,” the Calcutta High Court has overturned the conviction of a college professor, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a lower court under the POCSO Act in July 2024.
Setting aside the conviction, the Division Bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray, in their judgment on May 22 this year, ordered the state government to pay the professor Rs 10 lakh as compensation within the next three months, saying he faced social defamation and spent four years in jail.
The High Court also allowed the West Bengal government to recover the compensation amount from the police officers Nibedita Koley and Joydeep Mukherjee, who were involved in the probe.
“We must express our profound dismay at the investigation conducted by S-I Nibedita Koley. Her handling of these grave charges—under Sections 376(2)(f), 328, and 506 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act—reveals a total ignorance of basic investigative protocols. While children are indeed “supremely important national assets”, the stringent provisions of the POCSO Act cannot be weaponized to settle personal scores. The Investigating Officer (IO) failed to take even rudimentary steps to verify the allegations against Professor Pratap Digal. Instead, she allowed herself to be swayed by biased and unreliable witnesses, completely ignoring neutral residents,” the High Court said.
Picking out the holes in the investigation, the High Court said, “Most glaringly, a vaginal swab was collected but never sent for forensic examination, and key witnesses were omitted from the chargesheet. Such incompetence puts innocent lives at risk,” the Division Bench said, directing the Director General of Police to immediately consider initiating disciplinary proceedings against the S-I.
The court has also sought a compliance report that must be submitted to the Registrar General of the High Court, Calcutta, within 15 days of receiving this judgment.
The case dates back to March 2022, when a woman got an FIR registered in Serampore, alleging that her teenage sister was raped by the professor who was asked to keep her by their father. According to the FIR, the father had left the girl in the care of the professor as her stepmother was torturing her. According to the FIR, the professor drugged her, established a sexual relationship with her, and used to threaten her against disclosing anything about their. According to the complaint, the girl tried to flee, but could not succeed. Subsequently, she informed her elder sister over the phone and was rescued.
The prosecution adduced as many as seven witnesses, and the trial court judge convicted the professor under IPC sections 376(2)(f)/506 and section 6 of the POCSO Act and sentenced him to 20 years of imprisonment.
The bench questioned the appointment of Joydeep Mukherjee as the Special Public Prosecutor, given his ties to the professor’s ex-wife. The Bench expressed dissatisfaction and raised questions regarding 13 serious issues, including the truth of the victim’s allegations, the police investigation process, the statements of witnesses, the preservation of forensic data, and the trial process of the lower court. The High Court also granted permission to the professor to take legal action against his ex-wife and son for framing him in a false case and giving false statements.