Bengaluru, July 19: The Karnataka High Court ruled recently that a person cannot be prosecuted or punished under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, solely for viewing child porn online. The ruling comes after a complaint against a Bengaluru man, who according to his counsel was somewhat porn addict, was registered for viewing a child pornography website. The court quashed the proceeding against the man, saying that simply watching the content doesn't mean transmitting or publishing it.

According to a report by the Times Of India, a case was registered against a resident in Bengaluru, identified as M Inayathulla, for allegedly watching a child porn website for almost 50 minutes in March 2023. CyberTipline flagged the IP address, alerting enforcement authorities. Two months later, the CEN police filed a complaint. The petitioner challenged this, arguing that Section 67B of the IT Act should not apply in this case. Kerala High Court Says Automatic or Accidental Downloading of Child Pornography Is Not Offence.

In his defence, he claimed he was just viewing a pornographic website for 50 minutes and denied accessing child pornography. His lawyer argued he was a porn addict but didn't share any material. The government advocate countered that such activities are unacceptable and warrant investigation. Child Pornography Case: CJI DY Chandrachud Expresses Shock Over Madras High Court’s Verdict on Watching Pornographic Content Containing Children in Private, Says 'It Is a Clear Offence'.

Upon looking into the matter, Justice Nagaprasanna pointed out that section 67B does not align with this case as it mentions punishing those who publish and transmit material depicting children in sexually explicit acts in electronic form.

"At best, as contended, the petitioner could be a porn addict who has watched pornographic material. Nothing beyond this is alleged against the petitioner. If the facts are pitted against the ingredients necessary to drive home Section 67B of the IT Act, what would unmistakably emerge is further proceedings cannot be permitted to be continued, as it would become an abuse of the process of law," the judge concluded.

Women and Child Helpline Numbers:

Childline India – 1098; Women’s Helpline – 181; National Commission for Women Helpline – 112; National Commission for Women Helpline Against Violence – 7827170170; Police Women / Senior Citizen Helpline – 1091/ 1291; Missing Child and Women – 1094.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2024 11:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).