Can 1,000-day delay stop justice? Madras High Court invokes Article 21 to hear convict’s late appeal

Madras HC latest judgment: Madras High Court said that the special court was bound to examine the reasons behind the delay before dismissing the case solely on the ground of postponed application.

Written by: Somya Panwar

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Feb 3, 2026 11:54 AM IST

Madras HC latest judgment: Man sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment under Section 5[j][ii] read with Section 6 of POCSO Act. (Image generated using AI)

Madras High Court News: Highlighting a person’s right under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Madras High Court recently condoned a delay of over 1,000 days for filing an appeal by a man against his conviction in a Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case.

Justice N Mala was hearing the appeal of the man who was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment by a special court in 2022 under Section 5[j][ii] (in the case of female child, makes the child pregnant as a consequence of sexual assault) read with Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.

Justice N. Mala said that the petitioner will be given opportunity to contest statutory appeal.

While referring to a Supreme Court precedent, which holds that the right to liberty of an individual is a fundamental right, the court held, “This court is inclined to condone the delay of 1,108 days, giving an opportunity to the petitioner to contest the statutory appeal on merits.”

Findings

Right to appeal is a fundamental right under Article 21(no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law) of the Constitution of India.
The Special Court was bound to examine the reasons behind the delay before dismissing the case solely on the ground of delay.
The court accepted the reason of financial constraints leading to delay to file appeal, and granted opportunity to the petitioner to contest the statutory appeal on merits.
The petitioner is given an opportunity to contest the statutory appeal on merits; the delay of 1,108 days is condoned.

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Background

The petition was filed by the convict to condone the delay in filing the appeal against the judgement passed in September, 2022.
The delay in filing was averted due to the financial constraints, and not being able to find a counsel to file the criminal appeal.
He argued that the delay was caused by reasons, which did not qualify as a “willful act or wanton”.
The prosecution submitted that the petitioner was known to the survivor and her family.
The man allegedly sexually assaulted the minor who would frequently go to his house to watch TV.
The alleged incident took place on November 4, 2018, resulting in the survivor giving birth to a child on September 23, 2019.
Aside from the POCSO Act, the man was also booked under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and slapped with a Rs 10,000 fine on September 21, 2022.