Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the two accused persons, being the owners or partners of the clubs, had a non-delegable responsibility to ensure that their clubs were not used for illegal activities.
“Their failure to prevent or report the serving of liquor and hookah to minors, the alleged destruction of evidence and the omission to report the missing girls cannot be viewed as mere oversight,” the high court said in an order passed on March 20 and made available on the court website on April 2.
The court noted that the victim in this case was merely 13 years old and she was repeatedly served liquor and hookah at these clubs.
Initially, a case of kidnapping was registered by the police when the girl had gone missing in October 2019.
On December 25, 2019, the minor girl along with another 10-year-old girl was rescued.
In her statement before the police and the magistrate, the 13-year-old girl stated that she used to frequently visit the two clubs in Netaji Subhash Place here and met several people there.
During this period, she said, another accused had established physical relations with her. She consumed hookah and liquor at the clubs and stayed at different locations until she was eventually found by the police, she said.
The girl said she had left her house and fled with her boyfriend as she was frequently scolded by her mother.
The minor said her boyfriend took her to those clubs where she met a bouncer who took her to a woman’s house and arranged for her stay.
The police traced the woman’s mobile number, which facilitated the girl’s return to her home. She was subsequently questioned by the police, she said in her statement.
The two accused men had approached the high court challenging a trial court’s order which had framed charges against them for the alleged offences of the destruction of evidence , non-reporting of offences under the POCSO Act, the penalty for giving intoxicating liquor or narcotic drug or psychotropic substance to a child and penalty for employing minors or selling liquor to minors.
The high court dismissed their revision petitions saying there was no infirmity in the trial court’s order framing charges against them in the case.
“At the stage of charge, the court has to only take a prima facie view of the matter, on the basis of material placed on record by the prosecution. However, the exact role played by the petitioners, the extent of their involvement in the commission of the alleged offence, and their defence can only be appreciated during the course of the trial,” Justice Sharma said.
According to the prosecution, the owners of the clubs were facing low income and had resorted to serving hookah and liquor to minors at their clubs to boost their earnings.
It was alleged that minors frequently organised parties at such clubs and to capitalise on this, the accused persons used to unlawfully serve them alcohol and hookah.
The high court said evidence also prima facie indicates that the accused persons had deliberately deleted the CCTV recordings from the DVR to prevent the investigating agency from uncovering their illegal activities.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
