Justice Pushpa Virendra Ganediwala has recently come in the news for the Bombay High Court verdict regarding a case of groping of a minor girl. The case involved a 12-year-old girl who had reportedly been groped by a 39-year-old man in December 2016.

Originally from Paratwada District in Amravati, Ganediwala  cleared the NET – SET Examination in the first attempt. She was also awarded Gold Medals in B.Com., LL.B. and LL.M. examinations. After practising in the Amravati District Court, she was directly appointed as District Judge in 2007 and held positions at the City Civil Court, Mumbai, District Court and Family Court, Nagpur, Maharashtra Judicial Academy (MJA), and High Court of Judicature at Bombay, among others. She took on the role of  Additional Judge of Bombay High Court on 13th February 2019.

Also read: SC stays Bombay HC order that said groping without ‘skin to skin contact’ is not sexual assault

After four years, on January 19, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court headed by Justice Pushpa Ganediwala held that the accused’s actions did not constitute sexual assault punishable under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Bill 2019 as there was no ‘skin to skin’ contact. Ganediwala ruled that there must be “skin to skin contact with sexual intent” for an act to be considered sexual assault under POCSO. The court’s verdict received widespread criticism. 

According to the victim’s testimony in court, in December 2016, the accused had taken the victim to his house in Nagpur. Once in his house, he gripped her breast and attempted to remove her clothes, Justice Ganediwala had said in her verdict, according to a PTI report.

As per the judgement, the accused’s actions only constitute the offence of outraging a woman’s modesty under IPC section 354. An offence under IPC section 354 carries a minimum prison term of one year.