New Delhi [India], November 18 (ANI): The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's order setting aside the Bombay High Court's Nagpur bench's judgment that held skin-to-skin contact necessary for the offence of sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

New Delhi Nov 18 PTI The National Commission for Women NCW on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court order setting aside the Bombay High Court skin-to-skin contact verdict in a POCSO case and expressed hope that it will help uphold legal safeguards for women and children Quashing the judgement the Supreme Court said the most important ingredient constituting sexual assault is sexual intent and not skin-to-skin contact with the childThe high court had held that no offence of sexual assault under the POCSO Act is made out if there is no direct skin-to-skin contact between an accused and victim On February 4 the NCW had filed an SLP before the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court judgment stating that it would set a dangerous precedent for safety of womenThe Commission while filing the SLP had raised concern that the impugned order had far reaching ramifications for women and children exposing them to a desensitized society Such a narrow interpretation adopted by the high court in the impugned order would have had a cascading effect on the safety of women and children it had saidThe Commission welcomes the Honble Supreme Courts verdict today and believes that the apex courts decision in the matter will uphold the legal and constitutional safeguard for women and children the NCW said in statementThe top court in its judgement said that sexual intent is important in such cases and that it cant be taken away from the purview of the Act The purpose of the law cannot be to allow the offender to escape the meshes of the law the apex court saidThe top court noted that giving a narrow meaning of physical contact to confine it to skin-to-skin contact would defeat the purpose of POCSO Act and it cannot be accepted PTI UZM DV DV