In a significant ruling on September 23, the Supreme Court declared that the storage of child pornographic material constitutes an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The decision was delivered by a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala, which overturned a recent judgment by the Madras High Court.
The Madras High Court had previously ruled that merely downloading or viewing child pornography, without the intent to distribute or transmit, did not amount to an offence. However, the Supreme Court firmly set aside this interpretation, affirming that the possession of such material alone is a criminal act under the POCSO Act, which aims to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse.
SC suggests Parliament to amend term 'child pornography'
The bench also laid down certain guidelines on child pornography and its legal consequences. The apex court suggested the Parliament to amend the term 'child pornography' with the term 'child sexual exploitative and abusive material'. It also requested the Union to bring an Ordinance to implement the amendment. Further, the Supreme Court has directed the Courts to not use the term 'child pornography'.
The apex court had earlier agreed to hear the plea challenging the Madras High Court ruling that had said mere downloading and watching child pornography was not an offence under the POCSO Act and Information Technology (IT) Act.
Madras High Court's ruling
On January 11, the high court had quashed the criminal proceedings against a 28-year-old man charged with downloading pornographic content involving children on his mobile phone. The high court had also said children these days were grappling with the serious issue of watching pornography and instead of punishing them, the society must be "mature enough" to educate them.
The Supreme Court had taken note of the submissions made in the matter by senior advocate H S Phoolka, who represented two petitioner organisations, that the high court verdict was contrary to the laws in this regard.
(With inputs from PTI)
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