New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday expressed its strong disapproval over “inappropriate observations” made in judicial orders in cases of sexual violence against women.
Justices B.R.Gavai and Augustine George Masih observed that judges should defer from making remarks such as the complainant “herself had invited trouble”.
The observations were made during the hearing of a suo motu-initiated case following an Allahabad High Court judgement in a rape-cum-POCSO case that was listed before the bench.
The case had received wide media and public scrutiny after the HC granted bail to the accused and decreed that the acts of grabbing a child victim’s breasts, breaking the string of her pyjama and attempting to drag her beneath a culvert do not constitute an attempt to rape or offence of rape.
The SC had taken up the matter after We the Women of India, a citizen’s network group comprising lawyers, doctors, social activists, etc, brought the order to its notice.
The bench Tuesday pointed to another order by the same high court from March that pertains to a case of sexual assault. The complainant had met the accused at a bar in Hauz Khas, Delhi and accepted his offer to get dropped home. In its order, the HC noted that the complainant had invited the trouble as she willingly accepted the accused’s offer.
Reacting to this, Justice Gavai said, “There is another order now by another judge. Yes, bail can be granted. But what is this discussion that ‘she invited trouble etc’? One has to be careful when saying such things, especially on this side (judges).”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was assisting the apex court added, “Complete justice should not only be done but also seen to be done. How a common person perceives such orders will also have to be seen.”
On 26 March, the top court stayed the HC order in the rape-cum-POCSO case, noting that it reflected a lack of sensitivity on the part of the judge and that it was not a spur-of-the-moment order.
It had also sought responses from the Central government and the Uttar Pradesh government on the matter and also sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani and the Solicitor General.
The bench, however, did not hear the matter further and deferred it by four weeks since the respondents in the case had not been served.
(Edited by Insha Waziri)
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