In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has determined that the act of a male school teacher offering flowers to a minor girl student and pressuring her to accept them in front of others constitutes sexual harassment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. While acknowledging the gravity of the offence, the court underscored the importance of meticulously scrutinising the evidence, mindful of the potential repercussions on the accused teachers reputation.Expressing apprehensions, the apex court highlighted the possibility of the girl being manipulated to settle personal vendettas against the teacher, stemming from unrelated incidents involving her relatives. Justices Dipankar Datta, K V Vishwanathan, and Sandeep Mehta, in their decision, overturned the convictions rendered by a Tamil Nadu trial court and the Madras high court, which had sentenced the teacher to three years in prison.We quite agree with the submissions of senior counsel for the state that an act of sexual harassment of a girl student (who is also a minor) by any teacher would figure quite high in the list of offences of grave nature since it has far-reaching consequences, which impact more than just the parties to the proceeding, asserted the bench. In light of the circumstances, the bench acquitted the accused teacher, emphasising the necessity for impartial adjudication in cases involving allegations of sexual misconduct, particularly when the reputation of a teacher is at stake.
