SC Asks to Replace ‘Child Pornography’ Term in POCSO Act; Directs Courts to Stop Using It

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday suggested that Parliament should amend the POCSO Act to replace the term “child pornography” with “Child Sexual Exploitative and Abusive Material.”

The top court also added that the Union government could bring in an ordinance to enforce this change immediately before the POCSO Act gets amended.

The Supreme Court also directed all courts in the country to refrain from using the term “child pornography” in legal proceedings.

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that even storing child pornographic material without deletion and reporting indicates intention to transmit and constitutes an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala set aside a Madras High Court order and held that “storage of such material, without deleting or without reporting the same, would indicate an intention to transmit.”