Madras High Court Flags Psychological Toll Of Viewing Graphic Sexual-Offence Evidence On Judges, Investigators & Lawyers

The bench of Justice Anand Venkatesh and Justice KK Ramakrishnan observed that the justice machinery could not treat its humans like computers, who were made to go through such explicit material regularly. The court added that if the mental and neurological trauma of viewing such explicit materials were not taken care of, the investigators, lawyers, and judges would end up being burnt out, traumatised and emotionally numbed.

“The machinery of justice cannot treat its human beings like unfeeling computers. If we continue to ignore the mental and neurological toll of this digital age, we will end up with burnt-out, traumatized, and emotionally numbed investigators, lawyers, and judges,” the court said.

The court thus suggested that the judiciary and institutional leaders should confront the challenge and build responses to protect those who carry the system. The court suggested mandatory psychological screening, regular counselling, decompression protocol after exposure, rotation of personnel assigned to graphic materials, training and procedures to minimise unnecessary exposure. The court held that such measures were not mere luxuries but essential for the integrity and sustainability of the justice system.

“It is time for judiciary and institutional leaders to confront this challenge candidly. We must build institutional responses that protect those who carry the system through mandatory psychological screening, regular counselling, decompression protocols after exposure, rotation of personnel assigned to graphic material, training to recognise and respond to vicarious trauma, and secure facilities and procedures to minimise unnecessary exposure. Such measures are not luxuries but they are essential to the integrity and sustainability of a justice system that still depends on human judgment,” the court said.

The court made the observations while hearing an appeal filed by Suji @ Kasi against the order of the Fast Track Mahila Court, Nagercoil, by which he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment until natural death. As per the prosecution, Kasi was initially arrested in connection with another crime. During the course of the investigation, his laptop was recovered, which contained obscene photographs and videos of several women, including the complainant in the present case. Following this, the case was transferred to the CB-CID.

Meanwhile, the complainant in the present case lodged the complaint with the CB-CID and a separate case was registered. After trial, the court found him guilty of offences under Sections 376(2)(n), 417, 354(A), 294(b), 354(c) of the IPC and Section 66E of the Information Technology Act.

The court noted that the lady investigating officer in the case had to sit and go through nearly 60 files of hardcore, perverted material to locate the single item relevant to the victim in the case. The court added that the prosecutors, defence counsel, and the judges had to face the same poisonous images.

The court noted that previously, the judges and the lawyers evaluated evidence through the traditional language-based process, by taking note of the written depositions, oral testimony and clinical reports which reconstructed the event. The court noted that this traditional approach created a protective buffer and intellectual distance between the professional mind and the trauma of the event.

However, in the digital age, the court noted that the protective wall was shattered, and all those involved in the judicial process were compelled to watch the violence itself. The court added that the system now required the officers to repeatedly become spectators of the violation of human dignity.

The court noted that when a legal professional is made to watch this perverted, explicit material for hours, the primitive, emotional centre of the brain is triggered. The court added that though the logical mind tried to see the material as just evidence in the case, the evolutionary part of the brain feels like it is made to repeatedly witness a live, horrific assault.

The court highlighted that this repeated viewing of the graphic digital evidence causes real, measurable psychological harm, known as vicarious trauma, with predictable physiological and functional consequences.

The court also highlighted that though the law has created checks and balances to make sure that digital evidence is not manipulated, it had completely ignored how the same digital files manipulate and harm the human minds that were required to judge them. The court thus stressed that the law must safeguard the minds that are entrusted to deal with such digital evidence.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. V. Kathirvelu Senior Counsel

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. G. Karuppasamy Pandian Counsel for State of TN (Crl.Side)

Case Title: Suji @ Kasi v The State

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 316

Case No: Crl.A(MD).No.644 of 2023