SC overturns Madras HC ruling on child pornography; says HC committed “egregious error”
- In Reports
- 04:57 PM, Sep 23, 2024
- Myind Staff
In a historic decision on Monday, the Supreme Court of India declared that the POCSO Act and the information technology law both criminalise the viewing and downloading of child pornography. The Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud-led bench of the Supreme Court overturned a Madras High Court decision that said mere downloading and viewing child pornography was not illegal under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Information Technology (IT) Act.
The decision came as a final verdict when a plea challenged the Madra High Court order. It is noteworthy that the Madras High Court issued its ruling in a case where the court rejected the criminal case against a 28-year-old man who had been accused of downloading child pornography on his phone. However, the Supreme Court while announcing the verdict stated that the high court had made an "egregious error" in rendering the decision while also resuming the criminal proceedings in the case.
The bench stated, “We have said about the lingering impact of child pornography on victimisation and abuse of children and on the role to report an offence, including the role of society and stakeholders.”
The Supreme Court agreed to hear a plea challenging the high court ruling, which said that mere downloading and viewing child pornography was not an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Information Technology (IT) Act, also while terming the High Court’s decision atrocious.
The high court further stated that rather than penalising kids for viewing porn, society should be “mature enough” to educate them about the serious consequences of doing so. The high court also stated that children today are dealing with the grave problem of watching pornography. It said that society should be "mature enough" to educate them about the serious consequences of doing so instead of punishing them.
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