J&K Judicial Academy hosts sensitisation program on POCSO and POSH Acts in Jammu

JAMMU, AUGUST 24: Under the leadership of Justice Tashi Rabstan, Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, and with guidance from the Chairperson and Members of the Governing Committee for the J&K Judicial Academy, a two-day sensitization program was organized by the J&K Judicial Academy.

The program, titled “POCSO Act and POSH Act with Special Reference to SAMVAD’s Training Manual and Combating Gender Stereotypes,” was held at the J&K Police Auditorium in Gulshan Ground, Jammu.

It aimed to educate Judicial Officers, Special Public Prosecutors, Medical Officers, officers from the Forensic Science Laboratory, police officers, members of Sexual Harassment Probe Committees, and members of Gender Sensitization Internal Committees from all districts of Jammu province.

The training programme was inaugurated by Justice Sindhu Sharma, Chairperson, Sexual Harassment Probe Committee in the presence of Justice Rajnesh Oswal, Judge, High Court of J&K and Ladakh, Justice Rahul Bharti, Judge, High Court of J&K and Ladakh, Member of the Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy and Anand Jain, ADGP, Jammu. Shiv Kumar DIG Jammu and Joginder Singh SSP Jammu also attended the inaugural session.

Delivering her inaugural address, Justice Sindhu Sharma, emphasized that there was a dire need of organizing such sensitization programmes to raise the awareness level of all the stake holders about the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized sections of society and sensitivities involved while dealing with the victims of POCSO and POSH Act.

She highlighted that a large number of such offences are neither specifically provided for nor are they adequately penalised.

The interests of the child, both as a victim as well as a witness, need to be protected.

Justice Sindhu Sharma added that it is felt that offences against children need to be defined explicitly and countered through commensurate penalties as an effective deterrence.

She iterated that for the first time, a special law has been passed to address the issue of sexual offences against children.

India is home to the largest percentage of children in the world, out of which, about 42% are children below 18.

One of the biggest evils the country is battling is Child sexual abuse. In order to address the problem of CSA through less ambiguous and more stringent legal provisions, the POCSO Act was passed in June, 2012 which came into force on 14thNovember, 2012.

Justice Sindhu Sharma stressed upon the need of better implementation of the provisions of POSCO Act and POSH Act and added that Combating Gender Stereotypes; A Handbook released by the Supreme Court of India is a welcome gesture by the Supreme Court. Justice Sharma deliberated that Gender stereotypes perpetuate violence and discrimination, undermining the effectiveness of legal protections.

She emphasised on some commonly used phrases which are now prohibited and must not be used by anybody.

The handbook provides practical tools and strategies for educators, employers, and policymakers to address and dismantle these stereotypes, promoting a more equitable and just society.

Justice Rahul Bharti in his special remarks highlighted that our society has been compelled to make laws for protecting the children.

Justice Bharti gave various real-life illustrations and highlighted that incidents of sexual abuse against children do occur at schools, religious places, parks, hostels, etc and the security of children is not guaranteed anywhere. With such emerging dangers, it was significant to introduce a special legislation which could provide a reliable system for mitigating the number of such offences and punishing the perpetrators.

Justice Bharti said that POCSO Act has been instrumental in providing a robust justice mechanism for the victims of sexual abuse and has highlighted the significance of child rights and safety. His Lordship remarked that we need to be sensitive without actually told to be sensitized.

Justice Bharti appreciated the participation of Judges, Police, Prosecutors, Medical Officers, etc. in the Two Days sensitization Programme who constituted the workforce at the ground level.

Anand Jain, ADGP, Jammu while delivering his keynote address urged that necessity of having the special legislation like POCSO Act to be underscored by alarming statistics.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), over 16,000 cases of child sexual abuse were reported in 2022 alone.

He said that POCSO Act is instrumental in addressing this crisis, providing a structured approach for justice and victim protection. He remarked that the effectiveness of the act continues to depend on robust implementation and adequate rehabilitation facilities.

He added that amount of sensitization and the degree of streamlining is still the need of hour. Yash Paul Bourney, Director, J&K Judicial Academy welcomed the dignitaries, Resource Persons and participants delivered the introductory remarks.

He said that in India, crimes against children have been on the rise since the past decade or more despite all laws. As against the increasing incidents of such diabolic crimes, there has been a corresponding decrease in the conviction rate in such gruesome offences.

There is an increasing fear of re-victimisation and of cases being unheard. He deliberated that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 makes provisions for avoiding the re-victimisation of the child at the hands of the legal system which provides for Special Courts to conduct the trial in-camera and without revealing the identity of the child, in a manner that is as child-friendly as possible.

He remarked that Sexual Harassment is a sinister facet of Gender discrimination which is grossly violative of a Women’s basic human & fundamental rights and achieving gender equality is important at workplaces is need of the hour not because it is ‘fair’ and ‘the right thing to do,’ but because it is also linked to a country’s overall progress.

Workplace gender equality is associated with improved national productivity and economic growth.

On the first day, the first session was conducted by Sunil Sethi, Sr. Advocate, High Court of J&K and Ladakh who explained the objective, nature & contours of the POCSO Act.

He highlighted that the Child Friendly Court Procedures must be adopted to ensure the best interest of the Child. The resource person said that traditional courts of law are not created with an eye for the special developmental needs of children. The courtroom environment can be intimidating to a child who is required to testify as a witness.

Therefore, a lot of sensitivities are involved in dealing with Child Victims. He lauded the role of the Courts and the Prosecutors in avoidance of Victims Personification, Mental Trauma, etc.

He further elaborated that keeping a child victim informed and explaining to him about procedures are best practices that go a long way in securing convictions in such cases. The second session of the programme was chaired by Justice Rajnesh Oswal, Judge, High Court of J&K and Ladakh who gave a detailed overview of Framing of Charges in POCSO Trials including recording and appreciation of evidence of victims in cases of Child Sexual Abuse.

Justice Rajnesh Oswal stated that process of framing charges is fundamental in setting the stage for a trial. Under the POCSO Act, this process must be meticulously handled to ensure justice and minimize trauma for the child involved.

He cited various judgements of the Apex Court which suggest that charges should be framed based on the material gathered during the investigation which must not be confused with mini trial and meticulous sifting of the evidence as is done at the final stage.

Justice Rajnesh Oswal said that recording and appreciation of evidence in POCSO trials require adherence to specific procedures to ensure that the child’s testimony is handled sensitively and effectively.

Justice Oswal also highlighted the statutory provisions including the protection of witnesses particularly the Vulnerable Witness against the fallacies of legal process. In the third session, Smt. Seema Khajuria Shekhar, Sr. Advocate. High Court of J&K and Ladakh deliberated that preferential treatment for men as opposed to women, because of their gender are known as gender discrimination and sexual harassment at the workplace is a result of such discrimination. Gender discrimination based on gendered biases and attitudes are a reality for many working/professional women and can occur in the workplace in one or more ways.

She gave an overview of important provisions of POSH Act and Rules. The resource person discussed about the importance of gender mainstreaming and workplace equality for checking effectively the sexual harassment. She also underlined the importance of the role of Internal Complaints Committees/Local Complaints Committees to prevent and redress sexual harassment complaints.

Sonia Gupta, PDJ Reasi conducted the proceedings of the two days sensitization programme.

All the sessions remained very interactive during which all the participants actively participated and shared their experiences, difficulties and also discussed various aspects of the subject topics.

They also raised a number of queries which were answered satisfactorily by the worthy resource persons.

The programme concluded with vote of thanks to one and all more particularly the Chairman and Resource Persons for spearing their valuable time for all round success of the programme.