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Attorney General for India v. Satish

Criminal Appeal · 2021 INSC 762Decided 18 Nov 2021
Criminal Appeal No. 1410 of 2021
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice Bela M. Trivedi · Justice S. Ravindra Bhat

Background

In two separate cases from Nagpur, Maharashtra, trial courts had convicted the accused (Satish and Libnus) under POCSO for sexually assaulting minor girls by groping/touching them over their clothing, along with related IPC offences. The Bombay High Court's Nagpur Bench controversially acquitted them of the POCSO "sexual assault" charge, reasoning that since there was no direct "skin-to-skin" contact (the touching was over clothing), the stricter POCSO offence was not made out, and instead convicted them only of a lesser IPC offence. The Attorney General for India, the National Commission for Women, and the State of Maharashtra appealed this interpretation to the Supreme Court; the accused also cross-appealed on other grounds.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the "skin-to-skin contact" test, holding it would defeat the very purpose of the POCSO Act, which was enacted to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. The Court held that "physical contact with sexual intent" under Section 7 of POCSO does not require direct touching of bare skin: contact through clothing with sexual intent is sufficient to constitute "sexual assault," since what matters is the sexual intent behind the act, not the physical medium of contact. The Court restored the convictions under Section 8 of POCSO (punishment for sexual assault) in both cases. The Court also separately expressed concern that a High Court judgment copy obtained from the website bore no certifying signature, and directed the Bombay High Court's Registrar General to fix the certified-copy procedure. All five connected appeals were disposed of accordingly.

Lesson Learnt

The law protecting children from sexual abuse looks at the offender's intent and the nature of the act, not a narrow technical requirement like clothing or direct skin contact: a court cannot read a loophole into child protection law that the legislature never intended.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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