The Supreme Court said on September 23 that downloading and viewing child pornography is a crime under POCSO and IT Act. A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra gave the verdict, rejecting the decision of the Madras High Court. The Madras High Court had said that if someone downloads and views such content, it is not a crime, unless the intention is to disseminate it. The Supreme Court said that the court has made a serious mistake in its decision. We dismiss it and send the case back to the Sessions Court. The Sessions Court will look into it afresh.
The Supreme Court has given two directions - We suggest to the Parliament to make changes in the POCSO Act and after this, the word pornography should be replaced with Child Sexually Abusive and Exploitative Material. An ordinance can also be brought for this. The bench said, we gave this decision on the basis of incidents of harassment and abuse of children. We also kept in mind the role of society in complaining about such cases. Earlier, the Kerala High Court had said on September 13, 2023 that if a person is watching pornographic photos or videos, it is not a crime, but if he is showing it to others, then it would be illegal. On the basis of this decision, the Madras High Court acquitted an accused on January 11, 2023.
