Supreme Court points out ‘mistakes’ of Madras HC and resumes criminal proceedings

The Supreme Court on Monday (September 23) set aside a Madras High Court judgment that said mere storage of child pornography material without any intention of distribution does not constitute an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The Supreme Court ruled that the mere storage of such material without deleting or reporting it indicates an intent to transmit it and that the Supreme Court made an “egregious error” in dismissing the criminal proceedings. LiveLaw reported.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala resumed the criminal proceedings and held that the accused's failure to delete, destroy or report the material constituted sufficient grounds to accept the legal presumption of culpable mental state.

Justice Pardiwala observed that Section 15 of the POCSO Act criminalises mere storage or possession of pornographic material relating to a child if it is done with the specific intention laid down therein and no actual transmission, distribution, etc. is required.

“Even if the said 'keeping' or 'possession' no longer exists at the time of registration of FIR, an offence under Section 15 may still arise if the accused person is found to have 'kept' or 'possessed' child pornography material,” the order said.