Supreme Court Judgement On Child Pornography Case

GS2 Polity/Social Justice

Context: Supreme Court verdict on child pornography & Sex abuse material.
Supreme held that viewing in private, downloading, storing, possessing, distributing or displaying pornography Acts involving children attract criminal liability under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO Act) and the IT Act.

Case Name: Just Rights for Children Alliance case
Overturned the Madras High Court ruling that said mere possession of Pornographic Material was not an offense under the POCSO Act.

Know About POCSO: The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, is a comprehensive law enacted by the Government of India to protect children from offences of.

• Sexual assault,
• Sexual harassment, and
• Pornography.

It also provides for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offences and matters connected there with.

Definition of a Child: The Act defines a child below 18 years.

Offenses Covered:

Government Initiatives and Measures:

Supreme Court Observation

• The term “child pornography” is a misnomer that fails to capture the full extent of the crime as it can lead to a trivialization of the crime, as pornography is often seen as a consensual act between adults. It, hence, proposed a new term for the offense.
• Supreme coined a new term i.e. “Child Sexual Exploitative And Abuse Material” or (CSEAM).
• Court forbids the Courts from using the term Child Pornography term.

• Focus on sex education
• Made it obligatory for an intermediary to report such cases of child abuse and exploitation to local authorities or they would lose exemption from liabilities under section 79 of the IT Act for any third party information.
• Urged the Parliament to seriously consider amending the POCSO Act to substitute the term child Pornography with “Child Sexual Exploitative And Abuse Material” or (CSEAM).

• Expanded the interpretation of section 15 of the POCSO Act: It deals with punishment for storage of Pornographic Material involving child.
• Supreme Court expanded its scope by arguing that section 15 was not limited to punishing the sharing or transmitting of child Pornography Material and could even be used to punish the intent to commit such an Act.

Supreme Court has used principle of constructive possession: To covered those where the individual may not have physical possession of child Pornographic Material but they have the power to control the material in question and the knowledge of exercise of such control.

Section 67B of the IT Act: The provision had penalized not only the use, transmission and publication of obscene materials, including Child Pornography but also made browsing, creation, collection, online facilitation or enticement of children into any sexual act or conduct an offence.

Way Forward

• Awareness Campaigns: The government, in collaboration with NGOs and civil society, conducts awareness campaigns to educate the public about child sexual abuse and the provisions of the POCSO Act.
• Training Programs: Regular training programs are conducted for law enforcement agencies, judiciary, medical professionals, and other stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of the Act.
• Safeguarding  children from sexual abuse and exploitation is the need of the hour. POCSO does provide a crucial legal instrument to fight against child predators. Supreme Court recent judgement add further teeth to it. However its effective implementation requires a multi-faceted approach involving the government, law enforcement agencies, judiciary, NGOs, civil society, and the general public.

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