Who Is Justice Pushpa Ganediwala, Judge Behind The Controversial POCSO Rulings?

Who is Justice Pushpa Ganediwala: A sitting judge on the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, Justice Ganediwala has come under public scrutiny after delivering two rulings deemed controversial in relation to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), both in January this year. 

On January 19, a single-judge bench of Justice Pushpa Ganediwala made the observation that "skin-to-skin" contact was necessary for a crime to be ruled as sexual assault against a minor. She made the observation in connection with a case from 2016, where a 39-year-old man was accused of allegedly groping the breasts of a 12-year-old while trying to undo her salwar. After she ruled the alleged over-the-clothes touching as outraging of a woman's modesty, there was much social media furore over the dangerous precedent this observation set. Read what lawyers had to say about it. 

Echoing the sentiment, Attorney General KK Venugopal brought notice to Justice Ganediwala's judgment in the Supreme Court, following which Chief Justice of India (CJI) Satish Bobde put a stay order on the verdict.  

Why Is Justice Ganediwala In News Again? 

Justice Pushpa Ganediwala, whose appointment to the Bombay HC was confirmed permanent just days after her controversial POCSO ruling, has drawn severe flak from netizens, with many lawyers and activists strongly opposing her observation. The bench's words of "stricter proof and serious allegations" being required for a crime to constitute POCSO punishment have also been acutely contradicted. Talking to SheThePeople, SC lawyer Nappinai NS called the ruling "completely fallacious." 

Within two weeks of her last ruling, Justice Ganediwala has made headlines yet again, this time for another observation related to the POCSO Act. In a case involving a 50-year-old man who reportedly molested a five-year-old girl, Justice Ganediwala held that the accused holding the minor's hand and opening the zip of his pants would not come under the definition of “sexual assault," falling instead under punishment reserved for sexual harassment offences under Section 354-A (1) (i) of the Indian Penal Code.

Here are some reactions on social media to Justice Ganediwala's latest observations:

Holding minor’s hand and opening pant zip is not ‘sexual assault’ under POCSO, says Bombay HC
The ruling was passed by the same judge who said a minor’s groping without ‘skin-to-skin contact’ is not sexual assault 🤬🤬🤬🤬😠😡😡😠😠🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 https://t.co/uH9NQbszEq

— dr. meena kandasamy || இளவேனில் (@meenakandasamy) January 28, 2021

Our honourable Justice Pushpa Ganediwala is doing a fantastic job at securing children. Madam should be garlanded for her efforts to push children to absolute irreversible trauma. https://t.co/UU3m2pnW1M

— Ahona Sengupta (@ahona_sengupta) January 28, 2021

I heard someone say that children are the most overlooked humans in all parts of the world. Justice Pushpa Ganediwala has proven so. https://t.co/aJzArEY7qd

— MOKSHA (@MOKSHA_KOTHARI) January 28, 2021

Who Is Justice Pushpa Ganediwala?

Justice Pushpa Virendra Ganediwala assumed office as a judge on the Bombay HC in 2019, after nomination by former CJI Ranjan Gogoi. With many years of experience behind her, she has served on several courts in Nagpur and Mumbai. Though her recent judgments related to POCSO are facing public ire, Justice Ganediwala has been hailed for her past judgments in favour of women and COVID-19 patients. In October 2020, she was on a bench that directed Mumbai's government hospitals to ensure treatment of a pregnant woman with COVID-19, famously declaring that people with the virus were not "untouchables." 

In 2019, she was also part of the significant ruling that maintained prisoners' parole rights and commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment on two occasions. Justice Ganediwala, who hails from Amravati in Maharashtra, holds degrees in BCom, LLB, and LLM. 

Image Credit: TOI