Karnataka HC revisits ruling on child pornography case, allows further investigation
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has retracted its July 10 order that had previously ruled that an individual viewing child pornography online could not be prosecuted under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act.
The revision came after the court's single judge bench, led by Justice M Nagaprasanna, on Friday acknowledged an oversight regarding Section 67B(b) of the Act.
Initially, the court had dismissed charges against Inayathulla N, arguing that merely accessing pornographic content did not constitute "publishing or transmitting material," a requirement under Section 67B.
However, upon a recall application filed by the state government, the court realised that its earlier ruling had neglected Section 67B(b).
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This section stipulates that creating, collecting, seeking, browsing, downloading, advertising, promoting, exchanging, or distributing material that depicts children in an obscene or sexually explicit manner falls under the purview of Section 67B.
The court stated, "Section 67B(b) is relevant to this case," and concluded that the initial ruling had erred by not considering this provision, leading to an improper annulment of the proceedings.
The court rejected arguments from the petitioner’s counsel, who claimed that the recall was barred by Section 362 of the CrPC.
Instead, the court maintained that its inherent powers under Section 482 of the CrPC allowed for such a revision.
Emphasising the human fallibility of judges, the court noted, "Judges are also humans, and infallibility is not known to humanity." The court then permitted further investigation into the case and annulled its previous order that had quashed the proceedings.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
