§ Section 16 (in substance)

A person abets an offence who —

Firstly, instigates any person to do that offence; or

Secondly, engages with one or more other persons in any conspiracy for the doing of that offence, if an act or illegal omission takes place in pursuance of that conspiracy and in order to the doing of that offence; or

Thirdly, intentionally aids, by any act or illegal omission, the doing of that offence.

Explanation I

A person who, by WILFUL MISREPRESENTATION or WILFUL CONCEALMENT of a material fact which he is bound to disclose, voluntarily causes or procures, or attempts to cause or procure, a thing to be done, is said to INSTIGATE the doing of that offence

Explanation II

Whoever, either prior to or at the time of commission of an act, does anything in order to FACILITATE the commission of that act, and thereby facilitates it, is said to AID the doing of that act

Explanation III

Whoever EMPLOYS, HARBOURS, RECEIVES OR TRANSPORTS a child, by means of threat or use of force or other coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over the child, for the purpose of any offence under the Act, is said to AID the doing of that act

§ Instigation, conspiracy and intentional aid

• Abetment by instigation. Provoking, urging or encouraging another to commit the offence, including by wilful misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact under Explanation I. A parent who pressures a child into submission to an abuser, or a person who lures a child by deception, may instigate.

• Abetment by conspiracy. An agreement with one or more others to commit the offence, followed by an act or illegal omission in pursuance of it. The agreement alone is not enough; something must be done under it.

• Abetment by intentional aid. Facilitating the offence by an act or illegal omission, before or at the time of its commission, under Explanation II. Providing the premises, keeping watch, or procuring the child are typical.

• Explanation III: the trafficking chain. Employing, harbouring, receiving or transporting a child by force, coercion, fraud or payment, for the purpose of any offence under the Act, is aid. It reaches every link in a chain that delivers a child to an abuser.

§ Section 17 (in substance)

Whoever abets any offence under this Act, if the act abetted is committed in consequence of the abetment, shall be punished with the punishment provided for that offence.

Explanation. An act or offence is said to be committed in consequence of abetment when it is committed in consequence of the instigation, or in pursuance of the conspiracy, or with the aid which constitutes the abetment.

The abettor is punished as the principal. A person who aids a penetrative sexual assault faces the punishment under Section 4, with its minimum of ten years.

Where the abetted offence is not committed, the Act makes no separate provision, and the general law of abetment under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita may be invoked, since the POCSO Act operates in addition to other laws under Section 42A.

§ Section 18 (in substance)

Whoever attempts to commit any offence punishable under this Act, or to cause such an offence to be committed, and in such attempt does any act towards the commission of the offence, shall be punished with imprisonment of any description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one-half of the imprisonment for life or, as the case may be, one-half of the longest term of imprisonment provided for that offence, or with fine, or with both.

§ The essentials of attempt

• An intention to commit an offence under the Act.

• An act done towards its commission, going beyond mere preparation.

• Failure to complete the offence, whatever the reason.

• Attempt to cause the offence to be committed is also covered, so a person who tries to procure another to commit the offence is within the section.

§ Where the line falls

Four stages are commonly identified in a crime: intention, preparation, attempt and commission. Intention alone is not punishable, and preparation is, as a rule, not punishable. Attempt is.

Attempt begins where preparation ends. In Abhayanand Mishra v. State of Bihar (1961), the Supreme Court held that a person commits an attempt when, having formed the intention and made preparations, he does an act towards the commission of the offence; the act need not be the penultimate act, but it must be done in the course of committing the offence.

Applied to sexual offences against children. In State of Madhya Pradesh v. Mahendra alias Golu (2021), the Supreme Court held that acts done by the accused towards a sexual offence against a child, going beyond mere preparation, constitute an attempt, and set aside a finding that they were only preparation.

The practical test. Has the accused moved from arranging the means to acting on the child? If he has begun the act of committing the offence, it is an attempt.

📖 In Re: Order Dated 17.03.2025 Passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, 2026 INSC 165, decided 10 February 2026

The High Court's order. In a revision against a summoning order, the Allahabad High Court held that the allegations, that the accused grabbed the breasts of an eleven-year-old girl, broke the string of her pyjama, and tried to drag her beneath a culvert before passers-by intervened, did not make out an attempt to commit rape but only preparation, and altered the charges to lesser offences.

The stay. In March 2025, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance and stayed the relevant observations, describing them as showing a total lack of sensitivity, as unknown to the tenets of law, and as reflecting an inhuman approach.

The final judgment. On 10 February 2026, a Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N. V. Anjaria set aside the High Court's judgment, holding that the alleged acts had gone beyond preparation and were a case for invoking the offence of attempt to rape, and restored the original summoning order.

Judicial sensitivity. The Court also asked a committee of experts to draft guidelines on sensitivity and compassion for courts dealing with sexual offence cases, having observed that insensitive judicial remarks can have a chilling effect on victims.

Rule: acts done towards the commission of the offence against the child, going beyond arranging the means, are an attempt. The settled test in Abhayanand Mishra governs.

Penetrative sexual assault, s. 3

Section 4: ten years to life

One-half of imprisonment for life, or fine, or both

Aggravated penetrative sexual assault, s. 5

Section 6: twenty years to the remainder of natural life, or death

One-half of imprisonment for life, or fine, or both

Sexual assault, s. 7

Section 8: three to five years

Up to two and a half years, or fine, or both

Aggravated sexual assault, s. 9

Section 10: five to seven years

Up to three and a half years, or fine, or both

§ Attempt to commit penetrative sexual assault and sexual assault

• An attempt to commit penetrative sexual assault is an act done towards penetration that does not achieve it. Where there was physical contact with sexual intent in the course of the attempt, the act may also be sexual assault under Section 7, and the charges are commonly framed in the alternative.

• An attempt to commit sexual assault is an act done towards physical contact with sexual intent that does not achieve it, as where the accused reaches for the child and is prevented.

• The completed lesser offence may be the better charge. Where the facts establish a completed sexual assault, that offence, with its minimum of three years, may carry a heavier consequence than an attempt.