Keeping pornographic videos of children is a crime, Supreme Court overturns Madras High Court's decision, gives suggestion to the Center

Supreme Court gave suggestion to the center

After which the decision of the Madras High Court was challenged in the Supreme Court. Hearing on which, the bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala quashed the recent decision of the Madras High Court. The Supreme Court also suggested the Parliament to amend the term 'child pornography' to 'child sexual abuse and derogatory material' and requested the Center to bring an ordinance to bring the amendment. The court has directed the courts not to use the term 'child pornography'.

what is the whole matter

In the present case, based on a letter received by the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime against Women and Children), a case was registered against the accused for downloading obscene and pornographic material of children in his mobile. During investigation, the mobile phone was seized and forensic examination was conducted, which confirmed that the mobile phone contained two files containing child pornography involving juvenile boys. The court took cognizance of the offence under Section 67B of the IT Act and Section 14(1) of the POCSO Act.

The accused had approached the High Court seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings. The Madras High Court's decision was based on several key points: the accused had only downloaded the material for private viewing, it was not published or broadcast, and it was argued that mere downloading and viewing of child pornography is not an offence under Section 67-B.