Vishnu Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh High CourtMANU/CG/0741/2023Bench: J. Sanjay K. Agrawal
The Chhattisgarh High Court laid down guidelines for child-sensitive court proceedings: (1) The POCSO court must hold child testimony in a room that is not intimidating — the formal courtroom arrangement should be modified to reduce the child's anxiety. (2) Support persons (parents, guardians, social workers) should be allowed to be present near the child. (3) The judge must speak to the child in a gentle, non-threatening manner during preliminary examination. (4) There should be no uniform or robes visible if they intimidate the child. (5) Video screens and one-way mirrors should be used to screen the child from the accused if possible. Anxiety during testimony does not, of itself, make the evidence unreliable.