Supreme Court slams Allahabad High Court for ‘invited trouble’ remark in rape case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took strong exception to the Allahabad High Court's “complainant herself invited trouble" remarks in a rape case and questioned the need for the high court to make such comments while deciding a bail application.

While granting bail to an accused in a rape case, the high court recently commented that the complainant "herself invited trouble" by agreeing to go to the house of the accused after getting drunk.

During hearing on a suo motu case related to the Allahabad High Court’s controversial verdict that said mere grabbing of a girl’s breasts and pulling her 'pyjama' string did not amount to the offence of attempt to rape, 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 also,” Justice Gavai said.

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

“We are pains 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 13th of November 2024 and after almost a period of more than four months he judgment was pronounced. It’s thus clear that the judge has authored the judgment after application of mind,” the Bench had said.

“In normal circumstances we are slow in granting stay at this stage. But since observations are totally unknown to cannons of law and depict a totally insensitive and inhuman approach, we are inclined to stay the observations,” it had said.

The top court – which took suo motu cognisance of the matter on the basis of a letter addressed to the CJI by an NGO “We the Women of India” – also had directed that the order be communicated to the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court for taking “steps as deemed fit and proper.”

Issuing notice to the Centre, State of Uttar Pradesh and the accused, the Bench had asked Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist it in the matter.