Verizon, Amazon may invest over $4 billion in Vodafone Idea

New Delhi: Downloading and watching child pornography is an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Supreme Court ruled today in a landmark judgment on the stringent law to prevent child abuse.

The bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala set aside the Madras High Court order that had ruled that merely downloading and watching child pornography was not an offence under the POCSO Act. The Supreme Court noted that the high court had committed an "egregious error" in passing the judgment.

The Madras High Court's order had come in a case in which a 28-year-old man was charged with downloading child pornography on his phone. The court had quashed the criminal proceedings against the man and said children these days are grappling with the serious issue of watching pornography and society must be mature enough to educate them instead of punishing them.

The Supreme Court today restored the criminal proceedings against the man.

At the outset, Justice Pardiwala thanked the Chief Justice for the opportunity to pen this judgment. The order focused on Section 15 of the POCSO Act which lays down punishment for the storage of pornographic material involving children.

"Any person who stores any pornographic material involving a child and fails to report or destroy it is punishable with a fine of not less than five thousand rupees., and repeat offence will be punishable with fine of not less than ten thousand rupees. If the material is stored for further transmitting or propagating, then along with fine, it is punishable with upto three years of imprisonment. For storing child pornographic material for commercial purpose is punishable with three to five years of imprisonment, and in subsequent conviction, upto seven years of imprisonment," the Section says.

Justice Pardiwala said that in this case, mens rea is to be gathered from actus rea -- mens rea refers to the intent behind the crime and actus rea is the actual criminal act.

"We have said on the lingering impact of child pornography on the victimisation and abuse of children... We have suggested to the Parliament to bring an amendment to POCSO... so that child pornography can be referred to as child sexually abusive and exploitative material. We have suggested an ordinance can be brought in. We have asked all courts not to refer to child pornography in any order," the bench said.

The Chief Justice called it a "landmark judgment" and thanked Justice Pardiwala.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said the situation in violence-hit Nagamangala town in Mandya district is peaceful now, and steps have been taken to ensure that no untoward incidents take place.

Clashes had broken out between two groups during the Ganesh idol procession in the town, following which mobs went on a rampage with stone pelting and targeting several shops and vehicles leading to tension on Wednesday night.

"Situation in Nagamangala is now peaceful and there is no problem there. I have also instructed officials to hold a peace meeting there. We have instructed officers to ensure that no untoward incidents take place, enough police force is also stationed there," Parameshwara told reporters here.

About 55 people have been arrested in connection with the incident and they have been sent to judicial custody, according to police sources.

Responding to a question on opposition parties including JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy raising doubts about the FIR, he said, "The police will do what has to be done in accordance with law..."

Asked about BJP sending a fact finding team to Nagamangala, the Home Minister said, "Let them find the facts and inform us, and if there is any fact from their fact finding, we will look into it. It will make our work a bit easier." The BJP panel consisting of MLA C N Ashwath Narayan, former Minister Byrathi Basavaraj, former Minister K C Narayana Gowda, state secretary Lakshmi Ashwin Gowda, and former IPS officer Bhaskar Rao, will visit the spot and submit a comprehensive report to the party in a week.

According to police, an argument had broken out between two groups, when the Ganesh idol procession by devotees from Badri Koppalu village reached a place of worship on Wednesday, and some miscreants hurled stones, which escalated the situation.

Thousands of members of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah as well as civilians have been killed or wounded after wireless communication devices, known as pagers, exploded in different locations across the country on Tuesday, September 17. 

In its latest update, the Lebanese health ministry said at least nine people have been killed and 2,800 others wounded in the explosions that were first reported in the southern suburbs of Beirut. 

"Patients are being transferred to different governorates in Lebanon as hospitals in southern Lebanon have exceeded their capacity," the ministry stated.

Among those killed are a 9-year-old girl and son of a lawmaker affiliated with Hezbollah, Press TV correspondent in Beirut Mariam Saleh said in a report from the Lebanese capital.

The little girl has been identified as Fatima Jafar Abdullah while the young man is Mahdi Ammar, son of 'Loyalty to the Resistance' bloc MP Ali Ammar.

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, is also among the injured. His wife took to X, formerly Twitter, to confirm his injury in the pager explosion but said his condition was stable. 

Saleh said certain people who were carrying pagers noticed them heating up before the explosions took place, adding that Israelis are on a state of high alert, expecting a response from Hezbollah.

Based on preliminary investigation, officials were quoted as saying that the blasts appear to have been caused by a remote cyber attack orchestrated by the Israeli regime amid heightened tensions.

Footage shared on social media showed the wounded being taken to hospitals in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Many were seen assembling in front of hospitals and health centers to assist the injured.

In its latest statement, Hezbollah said after examining all facts and available information about the attacks that they hold the Israeli regime "fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians and led to the martyrdom of several people and the injury of many others."

"Our martyrs and wounded are the symbol of our struggle and sacrifices on the road to Al-Quds, in victory for our honorable people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and continuous field support.

"Our position of victory, support and backing for the valiant Palestinian resistance will remain a source of pride and honor for us in this world and the hereafter.

"The treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive its punishment for this sinful aggression," read the statement.

In its earlier statement, Hezbollah said at least three people, including a girl, had been killed in the pager explosions and many others sustained injuries.

The movement said relevant authorities were conducting security and scientific investigations to determine the causes of these simultaneous explosions.

The Lebanese health ministry has asked all its medical workers in Beirut and southern Lebanon to remain on alert and respond to all emergency medical cases.

The ministry has also urged all pager owners to dispose of their devices with immediate effect. 

Lebanon’s Minister of Health, Firas Abiad, earlier said the number of injured was in the “hundreds” and there were some fatalities from the explosions.

There has been no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Tuesday's attacks although some reports suggest that the regime officials have been advised to remain tight-lipped about it.

Israel has been regularly exchanging fire with Hezbollah since last October, shortly after the regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza after the Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm in retaliation for the relentless atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Experts believe the Israeli regime, after being militarily defeated, is resorting to desperate attacks against ordinary people in both Lebanon and Gaza, which will only hasten its demise. 

More than 41,200 Palestinians have been killed by the occupying regime in the besieged Gaza Strip in the past 11 months, most of them children and women. 

Condemnations have started pouring in against Tuesday's mass pager explosions in Lebanon, with Palestinian resistance groups as well as Yemen's Ansarullah strongly condemning it.

In a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi strongly condemned the Israeli terrorist attack targeting the Lebanese people.

He also expressed condolences to Lebanon and said Iran is ready to assist in treating the wounded or transferring them to Tehran.