Bombay High Court order quashing sexual assault charges under POCSO for lack of "skin to skin" contact should be reviewed: NCPCR

Priyank Kanoongo, Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has urged the Maharashtra government to challenge the Bombay High Court order acquitting a man of sexual assault charges under the POCSO Act after observing that "there is no direct physical contact i.e. skin to skin with sexual intent without penetration.”

By the said judgment, Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala had ruled that the accused was not guilty for sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, although his conviction for outraging the modesty of the minor victim under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) would remain.