Rama Krishna Sangem
With the Supreme Court of India ruling that viewing of child porn videos even if in the privacy of one’s home is a criminal offense under the POCSO and Information Technology Act, the champions of child rights across the country are cheering this landmark judgment.
The Supreme Court’s order based on a plea filed by Just Rights For Children Alliance overturned a Madras High Court order that said downloading and viewing such content is not punishable and merely a moral decay“Spandana Cultural Organisation for Progressive Education (SCOPE)” which is part of the Just Rights For Children Alliance, welcomed the judgement and said this could be a game changer in safeguarding child rights in the cyber space.
The Apex Court also directed the government to substitute the term “child pornography” with “child sexual exploitative and abuse material (CSEAM)” in the POCSO Act to reflect more accurately the reality, magnitude of such offences and also cover the visual depiction through generative forms.
Watershed moment
Welcoming the landmark judgment, Dr. Bandi Sayanna, President“Spandana Cultural Organisation for Progressive Education (SCOPE)”], said, “This is a watershed moment for us all. Internet is a dangerous landmine with paedophiles and child sexual abusers using it to watch, demand, and supply and store child sexual abuse material. But with this judgement, no single predator, even in the privacy of their house, will be spared now. We are proud that our alliance, Just Rights For Children, was instrumental in bringing this change in the country.” Just Rights For Children Alliance (JRCA) is an alliance of over 120 NGOs working throughout India against child sexual exploitation, child trafficking and child marriage.
The JRCA had challenged a Madras High Court order of January 11, 2024 when it The High Court of Madras on 11 January 2024 had quashed the FIR and criminal proceedings of a 28-year-old man and held that downloading and possessing child pornography does not amount to any offence.
Emphasizing that India has set precedent globally with this judgement , Bhuwan Ribhu, Founder of Just Rights for Children Alliance and Petitioner of this case, said, “India, has once again, paved the way globally by laying down the framework for prevention and protection of children from this transnational and organised crime.
Judgment’s global impact
This judgment will have long lasting and global impact on society, crime and child rights and will be etched in history. When a person is searching for and downloading child exploitation and abuse material’, they are creating the demand for the rape of our children. This judgment also breaks away from the conventional terminology of ‘child pornography which is seen as an adult indulgence and creates the shift in narrative to ‘child exploitative and abuse material being a crime”, said Bhuwan Ribhu, petitioner and Founder.
The Apex court’s bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra Supreme Court has also directed that courts should endorse the term “child sexual exploitative and abuse material” (CSEAM) instead of the term “child pornography” in judicial order or judgment. The Court also observed that a singular incident of abuse turns into a ripple of trauma including act where the rights and dignity of child is continuously violated each time such material is viewed and shared.
