Supreme Court Puts On Hold Bombay High Court Order On ‘Groping Of A Minor Is Not Sexual Assault’

New Delhi: The Bombay High Court passed a disturbing order on January 19, which said that the groping of a minor cannot be considered sexual assault without “skin-to-skin contact” or if clothes were not removed.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, put the order on hold, allowing Attorney General KK Venugopal to file a petition against it. The order was “disturbing” and would create a dangerous precedent, the Attorney General had said, NDTV reported.

“Attorney General has brought to our notice the judgement… in which the High Court has apparently acquitted the accused under Section 8 of POCSO on the ground that the accused had no sexual intent in committing the offence because there was no direct physical contact- skin to skin. The Attorney General submitted that the order is unprecedented and likely to set a dangerous precedent,” the Supreme Court said.

The top court also put on hold the acquittal under toucher charges of a 39-year-old man whose jail sentence for groping a 12-year-old in 2016 was reduced by the High Court.

The Bombay High Court order said groping a minor’s breast without “skin-to-skin contact” cannot be termed as sexual assault as defined under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Justice Pushpa Ganediwala said there must be “skin-to-skin contact with sexual intent” for an act to be considered sexual assault, not just groping.

A lower court had sentenced the accused man to three years in jail under POCSO.

According to the girl’s testimony in court, the man had taken the girl to his house in Nagpur on the pretext of giving her something to eat. He gripped her breast and attempted to remove her clothes, Justice Ganediwala recorded in her verdict, the report added.