Thread by @LawBeatInd

#SupremeCourt bench led by Justice UU Lalit to hear appeals against #BombayHC "skin-to-skin" judgment where a man was acquitted for an offence of Sexual Assault against a minor girl, in the absence of any physical touch. #POCSO

On the last date of hearing, Court appointed Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave as Amicus Curiae in the matter.

lawbeat.in/top-stories/su…

Hearing Commences

This is an outrageous judgment: Ld. AG giving brief outline of the case

#supremecourtofindia #POCSO

This is a judgment where if a person wears surgical gloves and commits an offence under Section 7, it would be no offence: Ld. AG

Further refers to Para 16 of the impugned judgment

#supremecourtofindia #POCSO

Ld. Attorney General reads out the language of Section 7, POCSO Act

#supremecourtofindia #POCSO

What the Judge omits is that touching with a sexual intent is sufficient: AG

further reads out the parts of the judgment

#supremecourtofindia #POCSO

Read the judgment here:

lawbeat.in/top-stories/sk…

Apparently the Judge did not consider the consequences of such a judgment: Ld. AG

#supremecourtofindia #POCSO

Who is appearing for the State and who is appearing for the accused?: Court

Mr. Rahul Chitnis appears for the State of Maharashtra - I support the submissions of the Ld. AG

#supremecourtofindia #POCSO

Because there was no representation for the accused, that's why we appointed Mr. Dave: Court

#supremecourtofindia #POCSO

The bench expresses inclination to appoint someone from the the Supreme Court Legal Services Authority - to represent the accused

Since the accused are not been represented, we directed the #supremecourt legal services committee to make available services of any Senior Adv. available on panel and any other AOR on behalf of the accused: Court (ORDER)

It is stated that there are two set of accused(s). It would be entirely on the #supremecourt committee to appoint either different set of counsels representing the accused or to have same set of counsels for all the accused(s): Court (ORDER)

Let the papers be submitted before the Committee today itself. List all these matters for disposal on Sept. 14, 2021: Court (ORDER)