RAJYA SABHA CLEARS POCSO AMENDMENT BILL 2019

RAJYA SABHA CLEARS POCSO AMENDMENT BILL 2019

SHRISTI KHANDELWAL 

BACKGROUND:

POCSO stands for The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill which amends the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.  The Act seeks to protect children from offences such as sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography. The POCSO Act 2012 was introduced in Rajya Sabha on March 23, 2011. Since India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child since 1992. The parties to the Convention are required to take measures to prevent children from being coerced into any unlawful sexual activity. The administrative provisions under the act are as follows:

• Any offence committed under this Act shall be reported to either the local police or the Special Juvenile Police Unit who has to report the matter to the Special Court within 24 hours of the commission of the offence. The police also have to make a special arrangement for the care of the child. In case a person fails to report a case, he shall be penalized. The Bill also includes penalties for making false complaints about the offence.
• Judicial provisions: Each district shall designate a Sessions Court to be a Special Court. It shall be established by the state government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. The state government will appoint a Special Public Prosecutor for every Special Court. The Court shall, as far as possible, complete the trial within one year. The trial shall be held in camera and the presence of the child's parents or any person trusted by the child
• The guardian of the child has the right to take assistance from a legal counsel of his choice, subject to the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
• If an offence has been committed by a child, it shall be dealt with under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
• The Bill seeks to penalize any person who commits offences such as "sexual harassment" with imprisonment for up to 3 years and a fine, “sexual assault” with imprisonment between three to five years and a fine. , “penetrative sexual assault” with imprisonment between seven years and life and a fine, and “aggravated penetrative sexual assault” with imprisonment between five to seven years and a fine.

CURRENT ISSUE(RAJYA SABHA CLEARS POCSO AMENDMENT BILL 2019):

The Rajya Sabha clears POCSO Amendment Bill 2019 entailing amendments to the POCSO Act by including the death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children, besides providing stringent punishments for other crimes against minors. This bill will now be sent to Lok Sabha for its approval. This bill was introduced by the Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani which also included a special punishment to curb child pornography.

According to the Union Cabinet, the amendment is expected to discourage the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a deterrent due to strong penal provisions incorporated in the Act. The cabinet mentioned that the bill intends to protect the interest of vulnerable children in times of distress and ensures their safety and dignity. The amendment is aimed to establish clarity regarding the aspects of child abuse and punishment. Smriti Irani, recognizing that justice delayed is justice denied, contended that the government has sanctioned 1023 fast track courts, particularly to be made for dispensing cases which were pending under POCSO. The statements made by the Minister were promoted and other ministers supported the arguments keeping aside the party liners. She also noted in the Rajya Sabha that the government would also supervise the process and have a meeting with the Registrar General of every high court to supervise the progress made in setting up such courts. She further added that “ to ensure that what is the quality of justice that was dispensed, an evaluation would be done through an institution impaneled by Niti Aayog with regards to this process, which the government is about to undertake. The monitoring and implementation of this activity happen through 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.”

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CONCLUSION:

MAJOR AMENDMENTS IN THE BILL:

• The Bill provides that those who use a child for pornographic purposes should be punished with imprisonment for up to five years and a fine. However, in the event of second or subsequent conviction, the punishment would be up to seven years and fine. This step was majorly taken to curb child pornography.
• The Bill defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child including photographs, video, digital or computer-generated images indistinguishable from an actual child.
• According to the amendment bill, those committing penetrative sexual assaults on a child below 16 years of age would be punished with imprisonment for up to 20 years, which might extend to life imprisonment as well as fine.
• In the case of aggravated penetrative sexual assault, the bill increases the minimum punishment from ten years to 20 years, and the maximum punishment to the death penalty.

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