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7. On the question of sentence, Mr. Khanna submitted that this is a case where an offence has been committed on a minor girl and it is evident from the statement of prosecutrix (PW-1) that on account of the rape, her parents stopped her from going to school and she had to study 8th Class privately. He submitted that considering the serious nature of the sexual offence committed by the appellant on a minor girl, this is not a fit case in which this Court should invoke the proviso to Section 376(1), IPC and reduce the minimum sentence of seven years for the offence of rape as provided in Section 376(1), IPC, to the period already undergone by the appellant. He cited the decisions of this Court in State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Bablu Natt [(2009) 2 SCC 272] and State of Rajasthan vs. Vinod Kumar [(2012) 6 SCC 770] in which this Court, after considering the language used in the proviso to Section 376(1), IPC, has set aside the orders of the High Court imposing sentences less than the minimum sentence of seven years in cases of rape under Section 376, IPC.

10. The next question that we have to consider is whether the Court should invoke the proviso to Section 376(1), IPC, and impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than seven years in this case. The proviso to Section 376(1), IPC, as it stood prior to its amendment in the year 2013 expressly states that the Court may impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than seven years in an offence under Section 376(1), IPC, “for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment”. We may now consider the cases cited by the learned counsel for the parties in which this Court has considered whether or not the proviso should be invoked to reduce the sentence to less than the minimum sentence in cases of rape.

14. In State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Bablu Natt (supra), cited by the learned counsel for the State, this Court, on the other hand, did not find good and adequate reasons to reduce the sentence to less than the minimum sentence of seven years under Section 376(1), IPC, because of the fact that the prosecutrix was a minor and had been subjected to rape and was compelled to live for several days with the accused at Chhatarpur and set aside the judgment of the High Court insofar as it imposed a sentence of less than seven years.

16. It is, therefore, clear that what is adequate and special would depend upon several factors and on the facts of each case and no straitjacket formula has been laid down by this Court. The legislature, however, requires the Court to record the adequate and special reasons in any given case where the punishment less than the minimum sentence of seven years is to be imposed. The conduct of the accused at the time of commission of the offence of rape, age of the prosecutrix and the consequences of rape on the prosecutrix are some of the relevant factors which the Court should consider while considering the question of reducing the sentence to less than the minimum sentence. In the facts of the present case, we find that the prosecutrix was a student of eighth class and was about 14 years on 28.01.2001 and she was of a tender age. She had gone to the house of the appellant looking for her friend Babbo, the sister of the appellant. When she asked the appellant as to where the sister of the accused was, he told her that she was in the room and when she went inside the room, he followed her into the room, bolted the room from inside and forcibly put her on the cot. The appellant then took out the salwar and the underwear of the prosecutrix and raped her. As a result of this incident, her parents stopped her from going to the school and asked her to study eighth class privately. Considering the age of the prosecutrix, the conduct of the appellant and the consequences of the rape on the prosecutrix, we do not think that there are adequate and special reasons in this case to reduce the sentence to less than the minimum sentence under Section 376(1), IPC.