The Supreme Court noted that the controversial ruling was passed after due consideration.
New Delhi: Following the Allahabad High Court’s controversial order about grabbing breasts and breaking the pyjama string of a minor not being an “attempt to rape,” the Supreme Court on Wednesday called it “shocking.” The top court has stayed the order.
On March 20, the High Court made the remark while passing judgement on a case in which two men allegedly assaulted an 11-year-old girl child.
Also Read | Grabbing Child’s Breast, Breaking Pyjama String Not Rape Attempt: Allahabad HC
A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih considered a suo motu case initiated against the High Court’s order. Expressing shock at the High Court order, the apex court said, “We are at pains to say that some of the observations made in the impugned judgement, particularly paras 21, 24, and 26, depict a total lack of sensitivity on the part of the author of the judgement,” as quoted by LiveLaw.
The two accused allegedly grabbed the 11-year-old’s breasts, broke her pyjama string and tried to drag her beneath a culvert in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj. When passers-by interfered, the accused fled, leaving the victim behind.
Observing that the judgement by the High Court was delivered after reserving for nearly four months, the Supreme Court noted that the controversial ruling was passed after due consideration.
Since the observations are “totally unknown to the tenets of law and depict total insensitivity and an inhuman approach,” the top court was constrained to stay the observations.
The stay order comes after Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta, on behalf of the NGO ‘We the Women of India,’ sent a letter. The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Union of India, Uttar Pradesh, and the parties before the Allahabad High Court.
The Allahabad High Court altered the charges against the two accused, Pawan and Akash, who were originally summoned to stand trial under rape charges (Section 376 IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act.
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Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra observed that due to the intervention of witnesses which led the accused to flee, it was “not sufficient to draw an inference that the accused persons had determined to commit rape on the victim, as apart from these facts, no other act is attributed to them to further their alleged desire to commit rape on the victim.”
The court had directed the accused to be tried under the lesser charge of assault (Section 354-B IPC) and aggravated sexual assault (Sections 9/10 of the POCSO Act), concluding that no material on record inferred that the accused was determined to commit rape. The High Court judgement had led to public outrage, with many criticising the insensitive order.
