Blitz Bureau
THE Supreme Court on March 26 stayed the controversial Allahabad High Court order which had held that 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 the offence of rape or attempt to rape, reported Bar and Bench.
The stay order was passed by a Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih in a suo motu case initiated by the top court after the judgment was brought to the notice of court. The apex court said that the order showed lack of sensitivity on the part of the high court judge who passed the same and it was not a spur of the moment order.
Hence, the apex court proceeded to stay the controversial observations. Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta concurred with the court and said there are good reasons to stay the order. The court then proceeded to seek responses from the Central and the Uttar Pradesh Governments on the matter and also sought the assistance of Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani and SG Tushar Mehta. An appeal moved by the mother of the child-victim against the order was tagged with the suo motu case and will be heard together.
Interestingly, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Prasanna B Varale had on March 24 declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed against that Allahabad High Court order.
The Allahabad High Court had made the controversial observations on March 17 while modifying a summoning order. The HC had altered the charges against the two accused, who were originally summoned to stand trial under Section 376 IPC (Rape) and Section 18 (Punishment for attempt to commit an offence) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The HC instead directed that the accused be tried under the lesser charge of Section 354-B IPC (assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe), along with Sections 9/10 of the POCSO Act (aggravated sexual assault).
