In re: Child Victim Statement Protocol (Madras HC)
Madras High Court2026 SCC OnLine Mad 901Bench: J. N. Anand Venkatesh
The Madras High Court issued a detailed protocol, holding that Section 183 BNSS and the POCSO Act together create the following mandatory safeguards for child victim statements: (1) Wherever possible, statements should be recorded by a woman Magistrate; where a woman Magistrate is unavailable, the male Magistrate must ensure a woman support person or DLSA advocate is present throughout; (2) The child must not be brought to the court premises — statements must be recorded in a child-friendly space, ideally at a One Stop Centre or designated CWC premises; (3) The accused, his counsel, and his family must be entirely excluded from the vicinity; (4) The child must be given a pre-recording briefing by the support person; (5) The child's statement must be video-recorded as mandated by Section 26 POCSO Act. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and Chief Judicial Magistrates of all districts were directed to implement these safeguards and file a compliance report within 8 weeks.