New Delhi: The Supreme Court has set aside Calcutta high court’s controversial order advising adolescent girls to “control their sexual urges”.
A two-judge bench of Justice A.S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the top court, while setting aside the high court order, on Monday, August 19, also restored the conviction of the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The high court’s controversial remark was made on October 18, 2023, while acquitting the man who was convicted by a trial court in the case of kidnapping and sexual assault of a young girl. He was convicted under IPC Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) and Section 366 (Kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage, etc) as well as Section 6 (sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.
The high court had said adolescent girls should “control their sexual urges” instead of “giving in to two minutes of pleasure”, according to the Bar and Bench.
The West Bengal government filed an appeal against the high court’s verdict and comments. Meanwhile, the top court had also initiated a suo motu writ petition under Article 32 of the constitution “due to sweeping observations/findings recorded by the Division Bench of Calcutta High Court” in the ruling, the Indian Express reported.
Delivering its verdict on the suo muto petition, the top court on Monday said directions had been issued to the states to implement the provisions of Section 19 (6) of the POCSO Act along with Sections 30 to 43 of the Juvenile Justice Act. Justice Oka added that directions had also been issued on how judgements are to be written.