India, March 27 -- The Delhi High Court has upheld the acquittal of a man accused of kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old girl, ruling that the horoscope and vaccination card were not proof of age and hence, he could not be prosecuted under the POCSO Act.

A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja said the survivor's age is the "prime question" in cases under the POCSO Act, but the girl's parents could neither state her date of birth nor produce an original birth certificate on record.

In his testimony, the girl's father said his wife used their daughter's horoscope - prepared at the time of her birth - for school admission.

However, the court said, "Admittedly, janam patri (horoscope) cannot be considered as proof of date of ...