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The NGO argued before the top court that the impression is given to the general public that downloading and possessing child pornography is not an offence. “It would increase the demand for child pornography and encourage people to involve innocent children in pornography,” the petition said.The Madras High Court on 11 January 2024 had quashed the FIR and criminal proceedings related to the downloading of child pornography and held that downloading and possessing child pornography does not amount to any offence. Police in Ambattur, Chennai, had seized the phone of the accused and discovered that he had downloaded and possessed child pornography. Consequently, they registered an FIR under the IT Act and the POCSO Act. However, the High Court quashed the criminal proceedings against the accused on the grounds that he had merely downloaded the material and watched the pornography in privacy and it was neither published nor transmitted to others. The court further said that watching child pornography will not fall within the scope of the POCSO Act, 2012 and since the accused had not used a child or children for pornographic purposes, at best, it can only be construed as moral decay on the part of the accused person.
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SC slams HC order that said watching child pornography in private not an offence
