The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the B♏ombay High Court verdict which had held that no offence of sexual assault under the POCSO Act is made out♌ if there is no direct skin-to-skin contact between an accused and victim.
A bench headed by Justice UU Lalit set aside the high court judgement, and said the most important ingredient of constitutin🍨g sexual assault is sexual intent and not skin-to-skin with the child.
Purpos🌃e of the law cannot be to allow the offender to escape the meshes of the law, the apex court said.
"We have held that when the legislature has expressed clear intention, the courts cannot create ambiguity in the provision. It is right that courts cannot be overzealous in creating ambiguity," the ben⛦ch, also comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, said.
The top court, which was ൩hearing separate appeals of Attorney General and the National Commission for women (NCW), had on January♔ 27 stayed the order which had acquitted a man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act saying groping a minor's breast without 'skin to skin contact' cannot be termed as sexual assault.
The sessions court had sent๊en♊ced the man to three years of imprisonment for the offences under the POCSO Act as also under IPC section 354. The sentences were to run concurrently.
The high ܫcourt, however, acquitted him under the POCSO Act while upholding his conviction under IPC secꦺtion 354.
(With PTI Inputs)
