The Supreme Court has widened the scope of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by making even viewing, possessing, and not reporting child sexual abuse-related content in one’s possession punishable under the Act, whether to not the content is shared or transmitted further.
The court did this while striking down a Madras High Court judgement which quashed criminal proceedings against a 28-year-old man who had downloaded two pornographic videos involving children on his phone. The court expanded the interpretation of Section 15 of the POCSO Act and linked it more closely to the overall aim of the law.
Originally, the provision was limited to storage of child pornographic material “for commercial purposes”. It was latter extended to include failure to report, intention to share it, etc. The court has now widened the meaning of “possession’’ to “the power to control the material in question and the knowledge of exercise of such control”.