The Supreme Court Collegium have declined to recommend the name of Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala, who gave the controversial “skin-to-skin” verdict in the sexual assault of a minor. This means she will demoted back to District Judge at the end of her ad hoc judgeship in Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court. This means she will not be made a permanent judge according to the sources.
Justice Ganediwala’s two wide of the mark judgments received a lot of criticism from the people for misinterpreting the POCSO act. Ganediwala on January 19, ruled that groping a minor’s breast without “skin-to-skin contact” cannot be defined as sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) act. The verdict was declared null and void by Supreme Court on November 18 after several petition took exception of the verdict which even included petitions by National Commission for Women.
This was not the first time her judgements came into light, a previous judgment in another case was under a cloud of the human rights. Ganediwala controversially ruled that ‘acts of holding the victim’s hand’ or ‘opened zip of pant’ does not come under the definition of “sexual assault.”
According to the Indian Express‘ sources, the Collegium found a troubling “consistent pattern” in her judgment apart from the two controversial verdicts. The Collegium compriese of CJI NV Ramana, Justice AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachaud.
