SC to examine HC ruling that downloading and watching child pornography not offence

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has decided to review a ruling by the Madras High Court that stated that simply downloading and viewing child pornography does not constitute an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and the Information Technology Act, 2000. This decision was made in response to a plea challenging the high court’s ruling.

Previously, on January 11, the high court had dismissed the criminal case against a 28-year-old man who was accused of downloading child pornography on his mobile phone. The high court had also expressed its concern about the issue of children watching pornography and emphasised the need for society to educate them rather than punish them.

The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, took into account the arguments presented by senior advocate H S Phoolka. Phoolka represented two petitioner organisations, ‘Just Rights for Children Alliance’ and ‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan’, both of which work for children’s welfare. He argued that the high court’s judgement contradicted the laws.

The Chief Justice responded to the high court’s judgement by saying, “This is atrocious. How can the single judge say this? Issue notice returnable in three weeks.”

The Supreme Court has also asked for a response from S Harish, a resident of Chennai, and two concerned police officers from Tamil Nadu. The high court had previously dismissed the criminal case against Harish under the POCSO Act, 2012, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The high court had stated that to be considered an offence under Section 67-B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the accused must have published, transmitted, or created material depicting children in a sexually explicit act or conduct. It further stated that merely watching child pornography does not constitute an offence under this section.

The high court acknowledged that two videos involving minor boys had been downloaded and were available on the petitioner’s mobile phone. However, these videos were neither published nor transmitted to others and were within the private domain of the petitioner.

The high court expressed concern over children watching pornography and its potential negative impact on their psychological and physical well-being. It emphasised that society should advise, educate, and counsel children to overcome this issue, starting from the school level. The high court also advised the petitioner, S Harish, to seek counselling if he was still struggling with the addiction to watching pornography.