K’taka HC Withdrew Verdict Stating Only Viewing Child Pornography Is Not Offence

Revisiting its recent verdict on Child Pornography, k’taka High Court has taken back the decision citing misinterpretation of section 67B(b).

K’taka HC recalls the ruling that it is not illegal to view child pornography alone under the IT Act. Passing an order on Thursday, a division bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna withdrew the order saying that the court had ‘misread’ the 67B(b) of IT Act.

“We are also human beings and mistakes do happen on our side. There is always an opportunity for corrections. An inquiry will be done in this regard and a new order will be delivered. This order is cancelled,” the bench said.

The court had pronounced the verdict following a petition filed by the state government in the matter. It  further maintained that court passed the order under section 67B(b) of IT Act. \

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Under Section 67B (b) of the IT Act, any individual who creates text or digital photos, gathers, searches, browses, downloads, creates advertisements, circulates, exchanges, or picturizes children in an offensive or debaucherous way may be subject to an investigation.

A man accused of spending 50 minutes on a website with child pornography was granted relief by the high court, which had previously declared that merely viewing child pornography is not illegal under the terms of the IT Act.

In March 2022, a complaint was filed against the petitioner. He was accused of distributing or sending content that included children in violation of Section 67B of the IT Act.

However, the petitioner’s lawyer argued that the section is not applicable on his client as he only viewed the site and have not circulated the content .