The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Monday implored the Maharashtra government to file an urgent appeal against the Bombay High Court’s interpretation of what constitutes sexual assault with a minor under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, reported PTI. The children’s rights body said the language of the court’s judgement needed to be reviewed at the earliest.
In a judgement passed on January 19, the Bombay High Court had ruled that groping a minor’s breast without “skin-to-skin contact’’ and sexual intent cannot be termed sexual assault as defined under the POCSO Act, and that mere groping was not sufficient. A bench of Justice Pushpa Ganediwala was hearing an appeal against the conviction in a case, where a man had allegedly taken a minor girl to his house on the pretext of offering her a fruit, and pressed her breasts and partially stripped her. After examining the case, the court ruled that pressing the breasts…