In a landmark judgement to prevent child abuse, the Supreme Court has overturned a Madras High Court order and issued new guidelines related to child pornography. Under this decision, the SC bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Paridwala and Manoj Misra, has ruled that viewing or downloading obscene content involving children will now be considered a crime under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) and IT laws (Information Technology Act).

The Madras High Court had earlier ruled that watching or downloading content related to child pornography was not a crime.

India’s top court further stated that compiling obscene material related to children will also be an offence under the POCSO Act.

The SC has suggested to Parliament to bring a law to amend the POCSO Act and replace the term ‘child pornography’ with ‘child sexual exploitation and abusive material’. It has also instructed all courts not to use the term ‘child pornography’ in any order.

The SC directed that till the legislation is passed, the Centre can bring in an Ordinance to this effect.

The Madras High Court ruling came while quashing a criminal case filed against a 28-year-old man charged with downloading child pornography on his mobile.

Source: Media Reports