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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AIMIM wins Malegaon Central seat by 162 votes
Malegaon (Maharashtra), Nov 23: In a closely contested election, Mohammad Ismail Abdul Khalique of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has retained the Malegaon Central assembly seat, winning by a razor-thin margin of 162 votes.
This victory in the north Maharashtra constituency marks a significant turnaround for Khalique, who previously enjoyed a commanding lead in the 2019 elections, winning by over one lakh votes.
Khalique, an Islamic scholar, received a total of 1,09,653 votes this time, narrowly defeating his nearest rival, Asif Shaikh Rasheed of the Indian Secular Largest Assembly of Maharashtra party, who got 1,09,491 votes.
There were a total of 13 candidates contesting in this Muslim dominated constituency. Barring Khalique and Rasheed, two other candidates -- Shaan-e-Hind Nihal Ahmed of Samajwadi Party and Ejaz Baig Aziz Baig managed below 10,000 votes. Other remaining candidates were below 1,000 votes.
This election marks Khalique's third term as an MLA. He initially represented the Malegaon Central seat in 2009 as a member of the Jan Surajya Shakti party.
However, Khalique faced a setback in the 2014 elections when he contested under the banner of the Nationalist Congress Party and lost.
His return to the assembly in 2019 under the AIMIM banner solidified his political presence, and despite the significantly reduced margin this year, he has once again emerged victorious.
The results highlight the competitive nature of the Malegaon Central constituency and underscore Khalique's resilience in maintaining his position amidst changing political dynamics.
