The Supreme Court recently has decided to stay on the controversial Bombay High Court Verdict which acquitted a man of charges of sexual assault under Section 8 of the POCSO Act. A single-judge bench led by Justice Pushpa V. Ganediwala in the Bombay High Court said that touching a minor girl’s breast without removing the top could not be sexual assault since there was no “skin to skin” contact. But the court did hold that the offense does come under Section 354 of IPC which talks about molestation. Therefore, the sentence was reduced to one year under Section 354 since under Section 8, he had to be in jail for a minimum of 3 years. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal pleaded to the Supreme Court to change the High Court verdict since it allowed a loophole for any similar cases in the near future. The Chief Justice of India S A Bobde directed the Attorney General to file a proper petition challenging the judgment. Many others were against the High Court judgment since it exposed the victim’s name, which might endanger her in the future. Those who opposed the High Court judgment included the National Commission for Women (NCW), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Youth Bar Association of India, represented by advocate Manju Jetley and many more.
