§ Section 19(1) (in substance)

Notwithstanding anything in the Code of Criminal Procedure, any person, including the child, who has apprehension that an offence under this Act is likely to be committed or has knowledge that such an offence has been committed, shall provide such information to — (a) the Special Juvenile Police Unit; or (b) the local police.

§ Who must report, and what

• Any person. The duty is universal. It is not confined to officials or professionals; a neighbour, a relative, a teacher, a doctor or a stranger who knows is bound.

• Including the child. The child may report, and the police must receive the child's report. A child is never punished for not reporting, by Section 21(3).

• Knowledge or apprehension. The duty arises on knowledge that an offence has been committed, and equally on apprehension that one is likely to be committed. The Act looks to prevention as well as prosecution.

• To whom. The Special Juvenile Police Unit, constituted under the Juvenile Justice Act to deal with children, or the local police.

• Notwithstanding the Code. The duty overrides anything in the Code of Criminal Procedure, now the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.

19(2)

Every report shall be ascribed an ENTRY NUMBER and RECORDED IN WRITING, READ OVER to the informant, and ENTERED IN A BOOK kept by the police unit

19(3)

Where the report is given by a CHILD, it shall be recorded in SIMPLE LANGUAGE so that the child understands its contents

19(4)

Where the contents are recorded in a language not understood by the child, a qualified TRANSLATOR OR INTERPRETER shall be provided to the child if the child fails to understand it

19(5)

Where satisfied that the child is in need of care and protection, the police shall, after recording reasons in writing, make IMMEDIATE ARRANGEMENTS for such care and protection, including admitting the child into a shelter home or the nearest hospital, WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS of the report

19(6)

The police shall, without unnecessary delay and WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS, report the matter to the CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE and the SPECIAL COURT, including the need of the child for care and protection and the steps taken

19(7)

No person shall incur any liability, CIVIL OR CRIMINAL, for giving information in GOOD FAITH for the purpose of sub-section (1)

§ The child with a disability

A special educator or a person familiar with the manner of communication of the child is to be engaged where the child has a mental or physical disability, under Section 26(3) at the stage of recording the statement and Section 38(2) at trial.

The POCSO Rules, 2020 provide for the qualifications and engagement of such persons, so that a child who cannot communicate in the ordinary way is not excluded from the protection of the Act.

§ Section 20 (in substance)

Any personnel of the media or hotel or lodge or hospital or club or studio or photographic facilities, by whatever name called, irrespective of the number of persons employed therein, shall, on coming across any material or object which is sexually exploitative of the child, including pornographic, sexually related or making obscene representation of a child, through the use of any medium, provide such information to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the local police.

The named facilities are those most likely to encounter such material in the course of their work: a photo studio developing images, a hotel where a child is exploited, a hospital treating a child.

Online and digital platforms. Section 20 covers media personnel in any medium. It is supplemented by Section 79 of the IT Act and the Intermediary Rules, 2021, which condition an intermediary's safe harbour on due diligence and require proactive measures against child sexual abuse material, and by Rule 11 of the POCSO Rules, which prescribes reporting to the police or the cybercrime portal.

21(1)

Any person who FAILS TO REPORT under Section 19(1) or Section 20, or who FAILS TO RECORD under Section 19(2)

Imprisonment up to SIX MONTHS, or fine, or both

21(2)

Any person IN CHARGE OF ANY COMPANY OR INSTITUTION who fails to report an offence in respect of a SUBORDINATE under his control

Imprisonment up to ONE YEAR, and fine

21(3)

A CHILD

Sub-section (1) does not apply to a child

§ Three points on Section 21

• Failure to record is an offence of the police. A police officer who receives information and does not record it in the manner Section 19(2) requires is liable under Section 21(1).

• The heavier liability of the person in charge. A principal, a head of an institution, or a person in charge of a company who fails to report an offence committed by a subordinate faces up to one year and fine. The provision is aimed at institutions that protect their reputation by suppressing complaints.

• The child is always exempt. Section 21(3) ensures that the duty to report never becomes a burden on the victim.

§ Professionals and the duty to report

Doctors. A doctor who examines a child and learns of an offence is within Section 19(1). The Supreme Court has held, in State of Maharashtra v. Dr. Maroti (2022), that a doctor's failure to report a known offence against a child is a serious matter and is punishable under Section 21, emphasising that the duty is not to be diluted.

Teachers and schools. A teacher who learns of abuse must report it, and a principal or head of institution who fails to report an offence by a subordinate is liable under Section 21(2), with its heavier punishment.

Counsellors and other professionals. The duty applies equally to counsellors, social workers and others who learn of an offence in confidence.

Professional confidentiality yields. Section 19 applies notwithstanding the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the obligation of confidentiality does not excuse non-reporting. Section 19(7) protects a person who reports in good faith from civil and criminal liability, including for breach of confidence.

📖 Shankar Kisanrao Khade v. State of Maharashtra, (2013) 5 SCC 546

The Supreme Court emphasised that a person who comes to know of the sexual abuse of a child and fails to report it, including the management of an institution or a hospital, is failing in a legal duty, and gave directions on the reporting of child sexual abuse by institutions, schools and hospitals, and on their cooperation with the police.

Rule: silence by those who know is not neutral. The Court treated non-reporting as a failure that enables the abuse to continue.

22(1)

A false complaint or false information against any person in respect of an offence under Section 3, 5, 7 or 9, SOLELY with the intention to HUMILIATE, EXTORT, THREATEN OR DEFAME him

Imprisonment up to SIX MONTHS, or fine, or both

22(2)

A false complaint or false information made by a CHILD

NO PUNISHMENT shall be imposed on the child

22(3)

A person, NOT BEING A CHILD, who makes a false complaint or provides false information AGAINST A CHILD, knowing it to be false, thereby victimising the child

Imprisonment up to ONE YEAR, or fine, or both

§ Reading Section 22 correctly

• Sub-section (1) is narrow. It requires the complaint to be false and made solely with the intention to humiliate, extort, threaten or defame. A complaint that fails at trial is not thereby false, and a complaint made in good faith is protected by Section 19(7).

• Sub-section (2) protects the child absolutely. Whatever the circumstances, a child who makes a false complaint is not punished. The law does not risk deterring a genuine disclosure by a child.

• Sub-section (3) protects the child as the accused. An adult who knowingly makes a false complaint against a child, victimising the child under the Act, is punished more heavily than under sub-section (1).

§ Section 23 (in substance)

(1) No person shall make any report or present comments on any child from any form of media or studio or photographic facilities without having complete and authentic information, which may have the effect of lowering his reputation or infringing upon his privacy.

(2) No reports in any media shall disclose the identity of a child, including his name, address, photograph, family details, school, neighbourhood or any other particulars which may lead to disclosure of the identity of the child: Provided that for reasons to be recorded in writing, the Special Court, competent to try the case under the Act, may permit such disclosure, if in its opinion such disclosure is in the interest of the child.

(3) The publisher or owner of the media or studio or photographic facilities shall be jointly and severally liable for the acts and omissions of his employee.

(4) Any person who contravenes sub-section (1) or (2) shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than six months, which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

§ The meaning of identity, and the exception

• Identity is not only the name. Sub-section (2) lists the address, photograph, family details, school and neighbourhood, and then any particular which may lead to disclosure. The test is whether the child can be identified from what is published, taken together.

• The exception is narrow. Only the Special Court may permit disclosure, only for reasons recorded in writing, and only where disclosure is in the interest of the child. Neither the police, nor the family, nor the media can make that judgment.

• Media liability. The owner or publisher is jointly and severally liable with the employee, so that the organisation cannot shift the responsibility to a reporter.

📖 Nipun Saxena v. Union of India, (2019) 2 SCC 703

The Supreme Court held that no person may print or publish the name of a victim of a sexual offence, or disclose any fact from which the victim may be identified, and that this protection extends to child victims under Section 23 of the POCSO Act. It held that the protection flows from the victim's right to privacy and dignity under Article 21, extends to the police and the courts in the handling of records, and continues even after the victim's death. It confined the power to permit disclosure in a POCSO case to the Special Court, in the interest of the child.

Rule: the child's identity is protected as a constitutional right, and Section 23 is its statutory form.

§ A tension the law has had to resolve

The duty is absolute in terms. Section 19 requires any person who knows of an offence to report it, notwithstanding professional confidentiality.

The difficulty. In the case of an adolescent who is sexually active, or who becomes pregnant, mandatory reporting may deter her from seeking medical care, including a lawful termination of pregnancy.

The Supreme Court's answer (2022). In X v. Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of NCT of Delhi, the Court held that, so that a minor is not deterred from seeking a safe termination, a registered medical practitioner reporting under Section 19 need not disclose the identity and other personal details of the minor in the report, where the minor and her guardian so request.

The balance struck. The duty to report is preserved, but read so that it does not defeat the child's access to health care or expose her identity unnecessarily, consistently with Section 23 and Article 21.