• Touching sexual parts of a child’s body or any act involving physical contact with ‘sexual intent’ amounts to ‘sexual assault’ under Section 7 of the POCSO Act as the most important ingredient is sexual intent and not skin-to-skin contact, the Supreme Court said.

• Quashing the controversial ‘skin-to-skin’ judgments of the Bombay High Court in two cases under the POCSO Act, the apex court said the High Court erred in holding that there was no offence since there was no direct physical skin to skin contact with sexual intent.

• The top court’s judgment came on separate appeals filed by the Attorney General and the National Commission for Women (NCW).

• The National Commission for Women (NCW) welcomed the Supreme Court order and expressed hope that it will help uphold legal safeguards for women and children.

What is the case about?

• The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, in a judgment passed on January 19, 
held that there must be “skin-to-skin contact with sexual intent” for an act to be considered sexual assault.

• The verdict said that mere groping will not fall under the definition of sexual assault.

• It said that since the man groped the child without removing her clothes the offence cannot be termed as sexual assault but it does constitute the offence of outraging a woman’s modesty under IPC Section 354.

• The High Court had modified the order of a sessions court, which had sentenced a 39-year-old man to three years of imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.

• While IPC Section 354 entails a minimum imprisonment for one year, sexual assault under the POCSO Act entails a minimum imprisonment of three years.

• The Supreme Court noted that giving a narrow meaning of physical contact to confine it to skin-to-skin contact would defeat the purpose of POCSO Act and it cannot be accepted.

What is POCSO Act?

• The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, was enacted to protect children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography with due regard for safeguarding the interest and well-being of children.

• The Act defines a child as any person below 18 years of age, and regards the best interests and welfare of the child as a matter of paramount importance at every stage, to ensure the healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of the child. 

• The Act is gender-neutral.

• The monitoring and implementation of this Act happens through the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the state governments have been asked to appoint a senior nodal police officer for their state level Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

• In July 2019, the government amended the Act to make punishment more stringent for committing sexual crimes against children, including death penalty.

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