The Supreme Court revoked the order given by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh that directed the accused of sexual assault to tie ‘Rakhi’ by the victim as a condition to obtain bail. A Supreme Court advocate Aparna Bhat and others challenged the order passed by the High Court of MP. And the judgement provided by Justices AM Khanwilkar and S Ravindra Bhat based on a petition filed by these lawyers.
The Bench clarified that reasonable directions have to be followed by the lower courts while determining bail petitions concerning the sexual assault matters against women. It made in light of the order given by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. It stated that a man, accused of outraging a woman’s modesty, had to present himself before the victim to tie a ‘Rakhi’. And the act made the accused eligible to obtain bail.
Taking a note of the order passed by Justice Rohit Arya regarding this case:
- The applicant asked to be present before the victim on Raksha Bandhan, to tie a ‘Rakhi’ and carry a box of sweets.
- Considering the arrangement to be of a brother and a sister, the applicant asked to protect the victim at all times.
- The applicant was ordered to pay 11,000 rupees to receive blessings and 5000 additional rupees to the victim’s son.
Lastly, as per the plea received by the Supreme Court, the judgements given by the High Courts of this nature could tarnish the justice system concerning such heinous offence and will tend to normalize the essence of such crimes derived by the Law. Also, KK Venugopal stated that the judges with an old school perspective need to uplift their outlook while determining the crimes of sexual nature against women. The Attorney General added that more women judges inducted to overcome the non-empathetic approach taken by the judges.
Case: Aparna Bhat v. The State of Madhya Pradesh
