The recent Supreme Court judgment in Fair Rights for Children Collusion & Anr. vs. S. Harish & Ors., gives significant lawful elucidation with respect to the ownership, seeing, and dispersal of child obscenity beneath both the Assurance of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012 and the Data Innovation (IT) Act, 2000. This case centers on whether only downloading or putting away child obscene fabric, without transmitting or dispersing it, constitutes an offense.
The case included the charged, S. Harish, who was found in ownership of child erotica on his portable gadget. The materials were found amid an examination started after a tip-off from the National Wrongdoings Record Bureau. In spite of the implicating prove, the Madras Tall Court suppressed the charges beneath Area 67B of the IT Act and Segment 15 of the POCSO Act. The Tall Court ruled that unimportant ownership of such substance does not naturally result in criminal obligation unless transmission or dispersal is demonstrated
This judgment sparked widespread concern. The appellants, child rights organizations, argued that this narrow interpretation posed a significant threat to child safety. They argued that failure to remove or disclose such content, even in the absence of transmission, is expressly illegal under Section 15 of the POCSO Act. The Supreme Court highlighted the wider application of Section 15 of the POCSO Act when it reversed the ruling of the High Court.
According to the court, simply having child pornography on one's person or in storage with the intention of sharing it or transmitting it is illegal under POCSO. This important decision upholds the strict penalties for actions involving the sexual exploitation of children and enhances the legal framework surrounding child protection.
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TAGS: POCSO Act IT Act child pornography Supreme Court judgment child rights Section 15 POCSO Section 67B IT Act legal interpretation Just Rights for Children Alliance child protection Madras High Court cybercrime sexual exploitation criminal liability.
