Why POCSO courts must have prosecutors of their own: a Supreme Court direction behind the Kerala order

Background

The Kerala High Court has directed the State Government to appoint Special Public Prosecutors exclusively for cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act within six weeks, striking down a government order that had let POCSO prosecutors also conduct non-POCSO cases under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 is administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and seeks to protect children from offences such as sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography.
In In Re Alarming Rise in the Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents the Supreme Court directed States to appoint exclusive Public Prosecutors in courts established exclusively for POCSO cases.
That direction also called for specialised training for such prosecutors, including training in law, child psychology, child behaviour and health issues, because their responsibilities extend beyond legal knowledge to the psychological and health-related needs of child victims.
The Director General of Prosecution had argued that the definition of "Children's Court" in Section 2(20) of the Juvenile Justice Act supported letting POCSO prosecutors take Juvenile Justice Act cases as well; the Court held the government order could not be sustained.
Under the parent Act, a person commits penetrative sexual assault by acts set out in the statute, and the punishment was imprisonment between seven years to life, and a fine.
The amending Bill of 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development on January 8, 2019; it raised the minimum punishment from seven years to ten years and provided imprisonment between 20 years to life where the child is below the age of 16 years.
That Bill also added assault resulting in the death of a child and assault committed during a natural calamity to the definition of aggravated penetrative sexual assault.