Supreme Court issues notice to Attorney General in plea calling into question trivialisation of sexual offences by judges

The Supreme Court today issued notice to Attorney General KK Venugopal in a plea filed by women lawyers questioning the trivialization of sexual offences by courts in India. (Aparna Bhat & ors vs State of Madhya Pradesh & ors)

The plea filed by Advocate Aparna Bhat and eight other women lawyers challenges the order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court dated July 30 this year, where a man accused of sexual assault was asked to get a Rakhi tied on him by the victim as a condition for bail.

Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Sanjay Parikh argued today that the plea is not limited to the Madhya Pradesh High Court order, but calls into question such remarks made by judges that "objectify" women who have suffered sexual assault.

The Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and BR Gavai asked the petitioners to serve a copy of the petition and the application to the office of the Attorney General.

While doing so, the Court noted that a case does not lie against the Madhya Pradesh High Court bail order now, as "the condition for bail was already met."

The plea filed through Advocate on Record Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar had sought for a stay on the condition for bail imposed by the High Court. The petitioners have stated that they have not challenged the grant of bail, but only the condition of tying Rakhi.

The High Court order in question states:

"The applicant along with his wife shall visit the house of the complainant with Rakhi thread / band on 03rd August, 2020 at 11:00 am with a box of sweets and request the complainant- Sarda Bai to tie the Rakhi band to him with the promise to protect her to the best of his ability for all times to come. He shall also tender Rs. 11,000/- (Rs. Eleven Thousand Only) to the complainant as a customary ritual usually offered by the brothers to sisters on such occasion and shall also seek her blessings."

The plea avers that since the judgment comes from a High Court, it would trivialize such an heinous offence and that "there is a strong likelihood that such observations and directions may result in normalizing what is essentially a crime and has been recognized to be so by the law."

While Rakshabandhan is a festival of guardianship between brothers and sisters, the petitioners argue that the said bail condition amounts "to a gross trivialization of the trauma suffered by the Complainant in the present case."

The petitioners add,

"... the present case is of particular concern since it has taken years to undo the damaging approach followed by Courts whereby cases involving sexual offences committed against women are attempted to be compromised by way of marriage or mediation between the accused and the survivor."

One of the substantial questions of law raised in the plea is:

"Whether in a case seeking bail, it is appropriate for a court to impose extraneous conditions which allows contact between the accused and the complainant?"

The High Court direction that the accused visit the victim's house would also lead to the "victimization of the survivor in her own house", the petitioners submit. The plea further highlights that the alleged offence of outraging the victim's modesty, in this case, was committed by the accused by forcibly entering the victim's house.

Objection is also raised towards that fact that the sexual assault survivor is "forced to accept the sum of Rs. 11,000 as part of the customary ritual of Rakhshabandhan", as opposed to compensation that may be awarded by courts.