"He was being playful": Delhi High Court rejects plea for POCSO action against Dalai Lama for kissing child

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected a plea seeking action under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act (POCSO Act) against the spiritual leader Dalai Lama for kissing a child on the lips [Confederation of NGOs & Anr v Union of India & Ors]..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela rejected the plea filed by a bunch of non-governmental organizations."Dalai Lama has apologised for it. He has said he was just trying to be playful. It should be seen in the context of Tibetan culture," the Court observed..In 2023, a video emerged showing the Tibetan spiritual leader kissing a boy and asking him to "suck his lips". Following the public outrage over the incident, the Dalai Lama issued an apology.The video sparked angry reactions from Twitter users, who described the act as "disgusting.".The High Court today said that the incident was more than a year and half years old and it happened in full public glare and the child had expressed his desire and intent to meet the Dalai Lama."If the video is seen in its overall perspective, it can be said that Respondent No 4 (Dalai Lama) was trying to be playful and trying to humour the child. It has also to be seen in the context of Tibetan culture. The fact that he heads a religious sect which is not on the best of terms with a foreign power is also to be borne in mind. This court also takes judicial notice of the fact that Respondent No 4 has already expressed his apology to those who may have been offenced by his actions," the Bench recorded in its order..The counsel appearing for the petitioner told the Bench that the video has been published by several media houses and at least orders should be passed to redact the child's identity. The lawyer said that the authorities should intervene and take suo motu action on the entire incident as well.“I am not here to bring his holiness (Dalai Lama) under scanner but the authorities must intervene and take suo motu investigation… This will normalise kissing a child on the lips. There are many babas and gurus who force children to participate in such acts,” the counsel said..However, the Court said that there is no public interest in the PIL.“There are many babas who thrash and kick people. What do we do? People are okay with that… Next someone will come and say it was a bad handshake,” Acting Chief Justice Manmohan remarked.He added that if the parents of the child in the video are aggrieved, they will take action.