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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

18/11/23 13:09 PM IST

Mandatory reporting provision under POCSO

In News
  • Failure to report sexual crimes against minors is a bailable offence, the Himachal Pradesh High Court recently ruled.
Section 21 of POSCO act
  • The classification of offences under the CrPC “clearly” states that offences punishable with imprisonment of less than three years are bailable and non-cognizable. 
  • Section 21 of the POCSO Act prescribes imprisonment of 6 months to a year — thus making it a bailable offence.
  • Section 19 of the POCSO states that anyone having “apprehension” that an offence under POCSO is likely to be committed, or knowledge that such an offence has been committed, “shall” provide such information to the Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) or the police.
  • The term “any person” also includes a child who may report an offence.
  • This reporting provision becomes binding due to Section 21 of the POCSO Act, which prescribes punishment for failing to report the commission of an offence under Section 19.
  • Imprisonment of six months to one year, or a fine, or both is prescribed under Section 21.
  • children cannot be held liable for failing to report the commission of a sexual offence.
  • Similarly, children making false complaints or giving false information are also exempt from punishment under Section 22 of the Act.
Supreme Court Judgement
  • In 2013, a two-judge bench of the SC in Shankar Kisanrao Khade vs. State of Maharashtra ruled that “the non-reporting of the crime by anybody, after having come to know that a minor child below the age of 18 years was subjected to any sexual assault, is a serious crime.”
  • The apex court, in this ruling, put an even greater obligation on certain categories of professionals, such as medical practitioners and those in charge of educational institutions to report cases of child sexual abuse to the nearest Juvenile Justice Board, or Special Juvenile Police Unit.
  • This created a conundrum for medical practitioners, since their professional ethics require them to maintain the confidentiality of their clients.
  • For the limited purposes of providing medical termination of pregnancy under the MTP Act, the court said that the registered medical practitioner, only on request of the minor and their guardians, can be exempted from disclosing the minor’s identity and personal details under Section 19(1) of the POCSO Act or in any criminal proceedings that may ensue from the RMP’s report under Section 19(1).
Source- Indian Express

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