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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15 IAS officers transferred in Haryana
Chandigarh (PTI): The Haryana government transferred 15 IAS officers with immediate effect on Wednesday.
Among those who have been transferred are Vineet Garg, Chairman, Haryana State Pollution Control Board. He has been posted as the additional chief secretary to the government's printing and stationery department, relieving Raja Shekhar Vundru of the charge, a government order said.
Ajay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram, has been transferred and posted as the deputy principal secretary-II to the chief minister against a newly-created post.
Pankaj Agarwal, Principal Secretary, Irrigation and Water Resources Department, has been posted as the principal secretary in the architecture department, relieving Apporva Kumar Singh of the charge.
Saket Kumar, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Commissioner and Secretary, Development and Panchayats Department, has been transferred and posted as the commissioner and secretary in the archives department, relieving Shekhar Vidyarthi of the charge.
Mani Ram Sharma, Registrar, Cooperative Societies, has been posted as the secretary in the health department, relieving Rippudaman Singh Dhillon of the charge.
