Jammu, May 6: A one-day orientation programme on POCSO Act, 2012 for presiding officers of POCSO Courts of the UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh was organised at Judicial Academy, Jammu.
The programme via physical as well as a virtual mode was held under the patronage of Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, Chief Justice, High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, (Patron-in-Chief, J&K Judicial Academy) and guidance of Justice Sindhu Sharma, Chairperson, Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, and Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Members of Governing Committee, J&K Judicial Academy.
The training programme was inaugurated by Justice Sindhu Sharma, Judge, High Court of J&K and Ladakh and Chairperson, Governing Committee for Judicial Academy in the presence of Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul, Judge, High Court of J&K and Ladakh and Member, Governing Committee for Judicial Academy and Kikar Singh Parihar, Former District & Sessions Judge , who were the resource person in the orientation programme. The training programme was conducted by Y.P. Bourney, Director, J&K Judicial Academy.
Justice Sindhu Sharma, in her inaugural address, stated that POCSO Act, 2012 intends to protect the child through all stages of the judicial process and gives paramount importance to the principle of the best interest of the child. She observed that the Act has been instrumental in providing a robust justice mechanism for the victims of sexual abuse and has highlighted the significance of child rights and safety. She emphasised that the Act covers punishment for both non-penetrative sexual assault and aggravated penetrative sexual assault.
In the inaugural session, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul underlined the purpose of imparting training is to enhance the performance of Judicial Officers and to remove inhibitions while applying the provisions of law in their court work. He observed that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, (POCSO Act) and its corresponding rules were enacted with the objective of protecting children from a slew of sexual offences and introducing child-friendly judicial mechanisms for dealing with such offences effectively in a time bound manner.
