Section 67B IT Act: Child Sexual Abuse Material Online, Punishment and Bail

Section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 deals with child sexual abuse material in electronic form. The Supreme Court has said this material should be called child sexual exploitative and abuse material (CSEAM) rather than "child pornography". It is the most serious of the IT Act's content offences, and it is usually charged together with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

What Section 67B says

Section 67B is much wider than Sections 67 and 67A. It is not limited to publishing or transmitting. It punishes anyone who, in electronic form:

• publishes or transmits material depicting children engaged in sexually explicit acts or conduct;
• creates text or digital images, collects, seeks, browses, downloads, advertises, promotes, exchanges or distributes material depicting children in an obscene, indecent or sexually explicit manner;
• cultivates, entices or induces children into online relationships for sexually explicit acts;
• facilitates the online abuse of children; or
• records their own or another person's abuse of children in a sexually explicit act.

A "child" means anyone under 18.

Punishment:

• First conviction: up to five years and a fine of up to ₹10 lakh.
• Second or subsequent conviction: up to seven years and a fine of up to ₹10 lakh.

The Supreme Court's 2024 ruling

In Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish (September 2024), the Supreme Court set aside a Madras High Court judgment that had held that merely downloading and watching such material privately was not an offence. The Supreme Court held that:

• storing or possessing such material, and failing to delete it or report it, can be an offence under Section 15 of the POCSO Act;
• Section 67B(b) expressly covers browsing and downloading, so private viewing is not a defence under the IT Act; and
• the term "child pornography" should be replaced with "child sexual exploitative and abuse material" in court orders.

POCSO provisions charged alongside

• Section 15 POCSO: storing or possessing the material, with escalating punishment depending on whether the purpose is not deleting or reporting it, transmitting it, or commercial use.
• Section 14 POCSO: using a child for pornographic purposes, with a minimum of five years.
• Section 11 and 12 POCSO: sexual harassment of a child, including online.

These cases are tried by the Special Court under the POCSO Act, which can also try the Section 67B offence.

Is Section 67B bailable?

No. It is non-bailable and cognizable, and it is not compoundable, because Section 77A excludes offences against children. Courts treat these cases with particular seriousness.

How bail is decided

Bail in these cases depends heavily on the specific allegation and the forensic evidence. Courts generally consider:

• The nature of the allegation: courts distinguish between a person accused of producing material or abusing a child, a person accused of distributing it, and a person accused of possessing or forwarding a single item.
• The forensic report: what was actually found on the device, whether it was knowingly stored, and whether the account or device was used by the accused or someone else.
• Whether the accused is in contact with any child victim, and the risk of approaching or influencing a child witness.
• The BNSS safeguards for offences up to seven years: Section 35 notice of appearance and the Magistrate's or Special Court's power to grant bail still apply where only Section 67B and lesser POCSO offences are alleged. They do not apply where offences with higher punishment, such as Section 14 POCSO, are added.
• Stage of investigation: whether devices have been seized and examined, and whether the chargesheet has been filed.

Anticipatory bail can be sought under Section 482 BNSS, and regular bail under Sections 480 and 483 BNSS. Courts commonly impose conditions such as surrender of devices and passport, no internet use for specified purposes, no contact with any child connected to the case, and regular reporting to the police.

Reporting this material

Anyone who comes across child sexual abuse material online should report it on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in), which has a dedicated section for such reports. Do not download, store or forward it, even to report it. Failing to report material that you hold can itself be an offence under Section 15 POCSO.

Legal help in Gurugram

Rajat Kadyan and Associates handles POCSO and cyber crime matters before the Special Courts at Gurugram and the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

Phone: +91 82954 13475 · Email: contact@rajatkadyan.com

Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts.