The Supreme Court Collegium is understood to have withdrawn its approval to a proposal for the appointment of an additional judge of the Bombay High Court, Justice P V Ganediwala, as a permanent judge of the court following her two controversial verdicts in sexual assault cases.
The decision was taken after the judge faced flak for her interpretation of sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, a source said.
Justice Pushpa Ganediwala recently acquitted a man accused of groping a 12-year-old girl’s breast because he did not make skin-to-skin contact and days earlier, ruled that holding the hands of a five-year-old girl and unzipping the trousers do not amount to “sexual assault” under the POCSO Act.
On January 27, the Supreme Court stayed the Bombay HC order acquitting the man after Attorney General KK Venugopal said the order would set a dangerous precedent.