Teach morals before science: Bombay High Court

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Monday said that ‘moral and ethics education’ should be accorded priority over ‘science and technology’ in school curricula. The HC observation was made while hearing a suo motu petition on POCSO cases.  The court said, “Children should be taught ethics and moral values first then science and technology.” The move aims at reducing crime against children by other juveniles.

“Every child needs to be taught to respect other students in class whether they be boy or girl,” the court said, while pointing out the need to increase awareness against sexual crimes against children and the need to inculcate it at the school level itself.

A division bench of Justices Naresh Patil and Girish Kulkarni was hearing a suo motu PIL after Supreme Court (SC) directions to all HCs.

In February 2018, the SC had passed a slew of directions for the chief justices of all HCs across the country. It had asked the HC chief justices to ensure that all provisions under the JJ Act, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, and the provisions under the Indian Penal Code for trials for sexual offences were implemented in full spirit.

On the last hearing, the court had asked Advocate General (AG) to appear before the court. The court also directed the state government to consider establishing child-friendly courtrooms for minor victims, witnesses and juveniles facing inquiry under protection laws for them. The court further directed the state to file a comprehensive reply on the vacancies in the child welfare committees, Juvenile Justice Boards across the state and provisions of Juvenile Justice Act, which are yet to be implemented.

Justice Patil said, “These efforts are not enough to prevent POCSO offences. Awareness should be made amongst the public.”