After ruling that groping
breasts without skin-to-skin contact do not amount to sexual assault, the
Bombay High Court in a ruling said that holding hands of a
minor and having unzipped pants are not sexual assault under the Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The observation was made
by a single judge bench of Justice Pushpa Ganediwala, who was ruling on an appeal made by a 50-year-old man challenging a sessions court order convicting him for sexually assaulting and molesting the 5-year-old girl on January 15, reports PTI. 

Justice Ganediwala had on January 19 acquitted a 39-year-old man for groping a 12-year-old girl’s breast as he did not make any
“skin-to-skin contact with sexual intent”. She and the Bombay High Court have faced severe flak over the judgment. 

However, the Supreme Court stayed the order on Wednesday after Attorney General K K Venugopal mentioned that it was a very disturbing conclusion by the Bombay High Court.

Also Read | Who is Justice Pushpa Virendra Ganediwala, the Bombay HC judge in the news for her recent rulings?

“The acts of ‘holding the hands of the prosecutrix (victim)’, or ‘opened zip of the pant’ as has been allegedly witnessed by the prosecution witness (mother of the victim), in the opinion of this court, does not fit in the definition of ‘sexual assault’,” Justice Ganediwala said.

The prosecution’s case is that Libnus Kujur had on February 12, 2018 entered the house of the victim when her mother had gone to work and on her return found the accused holding the hand of her daughter and his pants unzipped, reports PTI. 

Justice Ganediwala noted in her order that while Kujur had entered the victim’s house with an intention to sexually harass her, the prosecution has not been able to prove the charge of ‘sexual assault’ or ‘aggravated sexual assault.’

The definition of “sexual assault” under the POCSO Act says that there has to be “physical contact with sexual intent without penetration,” she noted in her ruling. The high court said that there are not enough facts to establish the criminal liability on the accused of aggravated sexual assault.