In a landmark judgment on Monday, the Supreme Court of India overturned a Madras High Court ruling regarding child pornography, affirming that the mere storage of such material constitutes an offense under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).

The court emphasized that “a child’s victimisation begins with the sexual act, continues with its recording, and perpetuates with the material flowing in cyberspace.”

The 200-page judgment, authored by Justice JB Pardiwala, highlighted the serious implications of child sexual exploitation, describing it as one of the most heinous crimes imaginable.

The three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and including Justices Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted that each viewing or sharing of such material continuously violates the rights and dignity of the child involved.

The Supreme Court also urged the government to replace the term “child pornography” with “child sexual exploitative and abuse material” (CSEAM) in legal terminology.

The bench argued that the term “child pornography” trivializes the crime, as it is often misconstrued as a consensual act between adults.

The judgment stated, “One must also be mindful of the fact that the term ‘child pornography’ is a misnomer that fails to capture the full extent of the crime.”

The new term, CSEAM, is intended to more accurately reflect the nature of these images and videos, which are not merely pornographic but are records of sexual exploitation and abuse of children. The court stressed that this terminology emphasizes the criminality of the acts and the urgent need for a serious and robust response.

This ruling came in response to an appeal by the NGO Just Right for Children Alliance, which contested a Madras High Court decision that suggested watching child pornography in private did not constitute an offense.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras HC had previously ruled that simply downloading or viewing such material on personal devices was not an offense under the POCSO Act and the IT Act, leading to the quashing of proceedings against an individual charged for downloading two child pornography videos on his mobile phone.

The Supreme Court's decision reinforces the necessity for stringent measures to combat child exploitation and underscores the serious legal ramifications of possessing such material.