MUMBAI, Feb. 10 -- While upholding the conviction of a man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, the Bombay High Court (HC) last week reduced his punishment from life imprisonment to 12 years in jail, taking into account, among other things, the certificates he had earned from participating in programmes on reading Mahatma Gandhi's thoughts, writing essays and analyses of books, during his period of incarceration. The accused, a resident of a Ghatkopar chawl, was 20 years old when he committed aggravated sexual assault on a five-year-old girl - his neighbour's daughter -- in December 2016. He was convicted in 2020. While the HC found no fault in the special Pocso court convicting the man for the crime, it cited various reasons for reducing the span of his punishment from life to 12 years, of which he had already served over nine. The court said when the accused committed the offence, he had no criminal antecedents and, "it is also important to note that the accused was not released on bail, even during Covid-19." The court also took note of the three certificates the accused earned while in jail, which were produced by his lawyers O P Lalwani and Gypson John. They included a certificate issued by Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune, for participating in a programme on "analyses of books", a second certificate by Ramchandra Pratishthan, Mumbai, for participating in "essay competition" and a third certificate by Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal "for studying the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi," the judges wrote in their order. A division bench of justice Sarang Kotwal and justice Sandesh Patil said: "All these factors considered cumulatively, would make us show some leniency towards him for the sentencing part." The judges also said that considering the gravity of the offence, they had imposed a sentence which is more than the minimum of 10 years. "In our opinion, the sentence of 12 years would meet the ends of justice," they said in their order of February 2. The incident took place on December 9, 2016, when the accused was alone in his aunt's home in the Ghatkopar chawl, and the young girl came to the house for a pot of water. The victim informed her mother immediately after the incident, following which she spoke to the child's father. An offence was registered under Pocso at the Ghatkopar police station. The trial court convicted the accused in December 2020, after which he filed an appeal against his conviction in HC in 2023. Upholding the conviction of the accused, HC however, said that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. "Taking into consideration the evidence of the witnesses, it is very unlikely that a small girl of five years would have any grudge against the accused, or would concoct a false story of this nature," the judges observed. They noted that the victim was eight-years-old when she stepped into the witness box before the trial court. "The evidence recorded clearly shows that she had narrated the facts very clearly and without any tutoring," the court said....