Supreme Court Ruling: The Supreme Court has given a historic verdict on child pornography. Now downloading and watching child pornography will also be considered a crime under POCSO. The Supreme Court has overturned the decision of the Madras High Court in this case. The Supreme Court also requested the central government to issue an ordinance to replace child pornography with child sexual exploitation and abuse material and also asked all the High Courts not to use the term child pornography.Â
On this basis, the Madras High Court had dismissed the ongoing case against an accused of keeping child pornography related content in his mobile phone. The Supreme Court has cancelled the decision of the High Court and sent the case back to the Sessions Court. Many organizations working for the rights of children had approached the Supreme Court against this order.
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Downloading or viewing child pornography by any person is now a crime under POCSO and IT Act. On April 19, the Supreme Court reserved its decision on the appeal filed against the decision of the Madras High Court. In fact, the Madras High Court had said that downloading or viewing child pornography on one’s personal electronic device alone is not a crime. It does not fall under the category of crime under the POCSO Act and the IT Act. The NGO Just Right for Children Alliance had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against this decision of the Madras High Court.Â
Justice JB Padriwala also gave a suggestion to the Parliament and said-
The term ‘child sexually exploitative and abusive material’ should be used instead of child pornography. The central government should bring an ordinance to make the change. Courts should also not use the term child pornography.
The Supreme Court in its decision has rejected the decision of the Kerala High Court and Madras High Court
The Kerala High Court had said on 13 September 2023 that if a person is watching pornographic photos or videos, then it is not a crime, but if he is showing it to others, then it would be illegal.
Based on the decision of the Kerala High Court, the Madras High Court had acquitted an accused in a child pornography case on January 11. After this, the NGO Just Rights for Children Alliance and the New Delhi-based NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan had filed a petition against the decisions in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had reserved the decision on August 12.
Kerala and Madras High Court decisions on child pornography
Kerala High Court- Pornography has been prevalent for centuries, it is a personal choice
This decision was given by a bench of Justice PV Kunhikrishnan of the Kerala High Court. Justice Kunhikrishnan had said, pornography has been prevalent for centuries. Today in the digital age, it has become easily accessible. It is available at the fingertips of children and adults.
The question is, if someone is watching porn in his private time without showing it to others, is it a crime or not? As far as the court is concerned, it cannot be brought under the category of crime because it can be a person’s personal choice. Interference in this would be equivalent to intrusion into his privacy.
Madras High Court- Downloading child porn on phone is not a crime
Citing this comment of the Kerala High Court, the Madras High Court had quashed the case against an accused under the POCSO Act on 11 January 2024. The Madras High Court had said that watching or downloading child pornography on your device does not fall under the purview of crime.
The court made this remark while hearing a case against a 28-year-old man. A case was registered against the man under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and IT Act on charges of child pornography. The court had quashed the case against the accused.
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In short
Supreme Court’s Historic Verdict: The Supreme Court ruled that downloading or watching child pornography is now a crime under the POCSO Act and IT Act, overturning Madras High Court’s earlier decision.
Terminology Change: The Supreme Court requested the central government to replace the term “child pornography” with “child sexual exploitation and abuse material” in legal language and advised High Courts to avoid using the term.
Case Referred Back: The Supreme Court has cancelled Madras High Court’s decision and sent the case involving an accused with child pornography content back to the Sessions Court for trial.
Appeal by NGOs: Child rights organizations, including Just Right for Children Alliance, challenged the Madras High Court’s ruling in the Supreme Court, seeking stronger legal action against child pornography.
High Court’s Original Stance: The Madras High Court had previously ruled that merely downloading or viewing child pornography on personal devices was not a crime under the POCSO or IT Acts, a decision now overturned by the Supreme Court.
What are the laws regarding watching porn videos in India
- Watching porn online is not illegal in India, but the Information Technology Act 2000 bans the creation, publishing and circulation of porn videos.
- Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act 2000 provide for a jail term of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh for those committing such offences.
- Apart from this, legal provisions have been made in sections 292, 293, 500, 506 of IPC to prevent crimes related to this. Action is taken under POCSO law in child pornography.
The porn video market is growing rapidly in India
The number of mobile phone users is expected to reach 120 crores by 2026. Not only this, the world’s top website ‘Porn Hub’ has reported that an average Indian spends 8 minutes 39 seconds on a porn website at a time. Not only this, 44% of porn users are between 18 and 24 years of age, while 41% of users are between 25 and 34 years of age.
Google has released a report in 2021 stating that India ranks sixth in terms of watching the most porn in the world. At the same time, according to the Porn Hub website, Indians rank third among users of this website.
