New Delhi. The Supreme Court will today pronounce its verdict on a petition challenging the Madras High Court verdict that said that viewing or downloading child pornography in private does not fall under the purview of the POCSO Act. According to the cause list published on the Supreme Court website, the verdict written by Justice J.B. Pardiwala will be pronounced on Monday. In March this year, a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud had issued notice on a petition challenging the Madras High Court order that downloading and possessing child pornography is not a crime. The Madras High Court in its verdict had quashed the FIR and criminal proceedings against a 28-year-old man from Chennai, saying that viewing child pornography in private does not fall under the purview of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
A bench of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh reasoned that the accused had only downloaded the content and viewed pornography in private and it was neither published nor transmitted to others. “Since he has not used a child or children for pornographic purposes, it can only be construed as moral turpitude on the part of the accused person.” The Chennai police seized the accused’s phone and found that he had downloaded and possessed child pornography and registered an FIR under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act and Section 14(1) of the POCSO Act. In India, the creation, distribution and possession of child pornography has been criminalised under the POCSO Act 2012 and the IT Act 2000, among other laws.