Mera Samvidhaan All of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012

Chapter VII · Special Courts

30Presumption of culpable mental state.

Section 30 · Chapter VII · pages 12–13 of the Act

(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.

Section 30 of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 is reproduced in full above, as printed by India Code, with its footnotes and amendment markers. Read the whole Act, or browse every Act on Mera Samvidhaan.