Act Number: 32

Act Name: The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012

Year: 2012

Enactment Date: 2012-06-19

Long Title: An Act to protect children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography and provide for establishment of Special Courts for trial of such offences and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Ministry: Ministry of Women and Child Development

Department:

Section 30: Presumption of culpable mental state.
    (1) In any prosecution for any offence under this Act which requires a culpable mental state on the part of the accused, the Special Court shall presume the existence of such mental state but it shall be a defence for the accused to prove the fact that he had no such mental state with respect to the act charged as an offence in that prosecution.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, a fact is said to be proved only when the Special Court believes it to exist beyond reasonable doubt and not merely when its existence is established by a preponderance of probability.
     Explanation.--In this section, "culpable mental state" includes intention, motive, knowledge of a fact and the belief in, or reason to believe, a fact.
Scroll to Top