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The SC ruled that anyone who receives direct information from a minor about sexual assault is legally bound to report it to authorities under the POCSO Act. The court held that a child's disclosure is deemed credible and clarified that only those directly informed by the victim can be prosecuted for failing to report. It also revived charges against a teacher in the Arunachal Pradesh case.

New Delhi: Information received from a minor victim about sexual assault will be deemed credible and the recipient will be bound to report it to authorities including police under the POCSO Act, the Supreme Court on Thursday held.

A bench of justices Manoj Misra and KV Viswanathan, which interpreted the question as to when can it be said that a person has knowledge that an offence under the POCSO Act has been committed, noted that the phrase "has knowledge that such an offence has been committed" is not limited to direct knowledge, but would include awareness of its commission based on direct information received from the minor victim.

"Therefore, for the purposes of this Act, when a child victim reports to a person that he or she has been subjected to an offence, or is likely to be subjected to an offence, punishable under the Act, it could safely be concluded that the person to whom such information is provided by the child victim has knowledge that such an offence has been committed or is likely to be committed," the top court ruled.

The bench interpreted the question arising from a Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) case related to a school in Arunachal Pradesh, where an eight-year-old girl reported about the sexual assault allegedly by a school senior boy to her teachers, elder sister and classmates.