NEW DELHI: The minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi has said that the law ministry has endorsed her ministry’s view that there is no time limit in law for reporting offences that fall under the category of child sexual abuse. This development is seen as a big step to empower adult survivors of child sexual abuse to take on their perpetrators many years after the crime.Gandhi had written to law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on October 3 putting forth the ministry’s view and asking the law ministry to “ratify” the same to enable survivors to take action and enforcement agencies to act with clarity. "The law ministry had responded to my letter. They agree with us," Gandhi said.Gandhi in her letter to law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stated that the statutes of limitation does not apply to reporting of child sexual abuse cases as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, the overriding law in cases pertaining to children, does not lay down a timeframe."We are of the view that cases of child sexual abuse can be reported by the victim at anytime and the law enforcement agencies would be required to take appropriate action on the complaint of such victims, Gandhi has said.“Child sexual abuse gets covered under the POCSO Act, which has overriding provisions over other criminal laws," she has said. It is explained that POCSO Act does not provide for any period of limitation for reporting the sexual offences. “Infact, section 19 of the Act makes it mandatory for any person, including the victim, to report such offences," she further stated in the letter.She then went on to point that the period of limitation for criminal offences is covered under section 467-473 of CrPC 1973. It is also stated that section 468 provides a maximum period of limitation of three years for offences punishable with imprisonment of not more than three years.“This means that offences with higher punishment (heinous crimes) are not covered by the period of limitation under CrPC,” Gandhi explains in her letter. Hence, the WCD ministry emphasised that even adult survivors who faced child abuse before POCSO came into effect should be able to report the crime anytime.