India’s Supreme Court on Friday chose to stay an appeal from a lower court’s ruling that while producing child pornography remains illegal, downloading and viewing child pornography is not a crime.
The Supreme Court asked child rights advocates to submit written arguments for further consideration.
The Supreme Court heard the appeal in January. ruling The Madras High Court in southern India has dismissed criminal charges against a 28-year-old man accused of downloading child pornography onto his mobile phone in 2019.
The Madras court said that while India’s Information Technology Act, 2000 allows for criminal prosecution against anyone who “publishes, transmits or creates sexually explicit material depicting children”, “a careful reading of this provision… “This does not prohibit viewing child pornography.” That in itself is a crime. ”
The court similarly held that India’s Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012 criminalizes the use of children to create pornographic material, but on the condition that the defendant does not distribute any further pornography. , found that there were no specified criminal penalties for viewing such material. Defendants in the case argued that their phones automatically downloaded the content in question and did not forward it to anyone else.
“At best, this can be interpreted as moral depravity on the part of the accused, as he did not use children for pornographic purposes,” the Madras court said. Said of the defendant.
The court added an expression of concern about the effects of viewing and participating in pornography for children, saying they should be given counseling rather than punishment.
Gen Z children are grappling with this serious problem, and instead of blaming and punishing them, society needs to be mature enough to give them proper advice and education to help them overcome their addictions. Need to try advice. Education should start at the school level because exposure to adult content begins at that stage.
In early March, the Supreme Court of India Said Two non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Child Justice Alliance in Faridabad and the Bachpan Bachao Andolan Association in New Delhi, called the Madras sentence “cruel”. It has been submitted appeal.
However, the Supreme Court essentially agreed According to arguments in the Madras High Court on Friday. The Supreme Court added that those who receive child pornography electronically must promptly delete it from their devices and may face criminal charges if they fail to do so. Friday’s comments are not a final verdict on the matter, as the government is pending judgment.
supreme court approved National Commission for Protection of Child Rights of India (NC PCR) is a statutory body established in 2005 to submit written opinions for further consideration.
“Ignorance is not a defense in such cases as there is a presumption of guilt under the POCSO Act,” NCPCR senior advisor Swarpama Chaturvedi said on Friday.
