Quashing the prosecution initiated by a 28 year old man, the Madras High court said that merely watching and downloading child pornography is not an offence either under the POSCO Act or Information Technology Act. The present day children are 'grappling' with the serious issue of watching porn and instead of punishing them, the society must be "mature enough" to educate them, the Madras High Court said on Thursday.

To consider it as an offence under POSCO Act, a child or children must have been used for pornography purposes. "In order to constitute an offence under Section 67-B of Information Technology Act, 2000, the accused person must have published, transmitted, created material depicting children in sexual explicit act or conduct. A careful reading of this provision does not make watching a child pornography, per se, an offence under Section 67-B of Information Technology Act, 2000," Justice N Anand Venkatesh said in an order on Thursday, news wire PTI reported.