No sexual intent, no POCSO: SC quashes case over corporal punishment

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that corporal punishment inflicted on children without sexual intent cannot, by itself, be treated as an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The court made the significant observation while quashing criminal proceedings against a West Bengal schoolteacher accused of beating two Class 10 girls.

A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S Chandurkar was hearing the case involving a geography teacher at a school in West Bengal’s Alipurduar district. The teacher had allegedly beaten the two students on their backs and waists after they failed to answer questions correctly in class. A counselling and inquiry report also recorded that one of the girls was beaten on another occasion for failing to bring a map.

The allegations further included inappropriate touching of the students, following which an FIR was registered against the teacher under Section 10 of the POCSO Act, which deals with aggravated sexual assault.

However, after examining the girls’ confidential statements recorded before a magistrate, the court found no material indicating that the teacher’s actions were driven by sexual intent.

The bench criticised the teacher’s conduct, observing that greater restraint and sensitivity were expected while dealing with children and that the corporal punishment was inappropriate. But it held that such conduct, in the absence of the required sexual intent, could not attract the stringent provisions of the POCSO Act.

The Supreme Court consequently set aside the earlier orders of the Calcutta High Court and quashed the criminal proceedings against the teacher.