SC raps Allahabad High Court over rape victim ‘invited trouble’ remark

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took strong exception to the Allahabad High Court’s “complainant herself invited trouble” remarks in a rape case.

While hearing a suo motu case related to the high court’s controversial verdict that said mere grabbing of a girl’s breasts and pulling her pyjama string did not amount to rape bid, a Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih said, “There is another order passed by another judge of the same high court.”

“If one wants to grant bail that is okay but why make such observations that she invited trouble and all that. One has to be very careful on this side too,” Justice Gavai said.

While granting bail to the accused, the high court recently said the complainant “invited trouble” by agreeing to go to the house of the accused after getting drunk.

The Bench deferred the suo motu case for four weeks. Terming it “totally insensitive” and “inhuman”, the top court had on March 26 stayed the high court’s order.

“We are pained to state that some of the observations made in the impugned order depict a total lack of sensitivity on part of the author of the judgment. The perusal of the judgment would reveal that it was not as if the judgment was dictated at the spur of the moment in the court. The matter was reserved on November 13, 2024, and after almost a period of more than four months, the judgment was pronounced. It’s thus clear that the judge has authored the judgment after application of mind,” the Bench had said.