India, Oct. 8 -- The Delhi High Court has ruled that trial courts have the authority to impose fixed-term sentences exceeding the minimum punishment prescribed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act while adjudicating such cases.

A bench of justice Sanjeev Narula delivered the verdict on September 16 while dismissing a man's plea challenging a July 9, 2024, order of a trial court that convicted him for raping and committing aggravated penetrative sexual assault on his 17-year-old daughter and sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment. The ruling was released in October.

The conviction stemmed from an FIR registered in May 2018 by the victim, who alleged that her father had, over a considerable period, subjected ...