Justice Pushpa Ganediwala, declined elevation

Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala, an additional judge on the Bombay High Court who was denied promotion as a permanent judge, resigned on Thursday, two days before her term ended.

After two of Justice Ganediwala's verdicts were closely scrutinized for controversial interpretations of sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012, the Supreme Court Collegium decided not to recommend her name as a permanent judge of the Bombay High Court in December last year.

Because of the Collegium's unusual decision to demote the judge, Justice Ganediwala would have been returned to the district judiciary once her term as the additional judge concluded on February 12. After the controversial POCSO findings, the Collegium revoked its approval of her elevation to permanent judge in 2019. The Collegium then decided to wait a year before making a judgement.

Two of Justice Ganediwala's rulings said that "no direct touch" or "skin-to-skin contact" between the accused and the victim does not constitute a sexual assault under Section 7 of the POCSO Act.

The Supreme Court later overturned the findings, and the Collegium opted not to recommend her for a permanent position.

Following her two contentious verdicts, the Supreme Court collegium withdrew its approval of a petition to install additional judge Justice Ganediwala as a permanent judge of the Bombay High Court in January 2021.

Instead, she was appointed to a one-year tenure as an additional judge in the Bombay High Court. Justice Ganediwala would have been returned to the district judiciary after her term ended.

The judge declared on January 19, 2021, that squeezing a 12-year-old child's breast without removing her top does not qualify as 'sexual assault' under Section 7 of the POCSO Act — a decision that sparked popular outrage and was dubbed the skin-to-skin verdict.

Justice Ganediwala was born in 1969 in Paratwada, Maharashtra's Amravati district, and was appointed district judge in 2007. She was named an additional judge of the Bombay High Court in Nagpur in 2019.

In another case, Justice Ganediwala decided that, under the POCSO Act, holding the hands of a five-year-old girl while unzipping the trousers is not a sexual assault.

The Supreme Court later reversed the controversial rulings.

Justice Ganediwala was born in 1969 in Paratwada, Maharashtra's Amravati district, and was appointed district judge in 2007. She was named an additional judge of the Bombay High Court in Nagpur in 2019.

Additional judges to high courts are appointed for a period of not more than two years under Article 224 (1) of the Constitution, either directly from the Bar or from the state judiciary. They are 62 years old when they retire. Additional judge posts were created by the Constitution to address the "increased burden of the court," but they are increasingly being used as a probationary term for judges before they are elevated to permanent positions.

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