New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed a controversial order from the Allahabad High Court, calling the ruling “insensitive.”
The High Court had previously stated that actions like grabbing breasts or breaking the string of pyjamas did not constitute an attempt to rape, asserting that the prosecution must prove the case went beyond the “stage of preparation” to establish such charges.
The Supreme Court intervened after the organization ‘We the Women of India’ filed a petition against the March 17 order.
A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih stated that the High Court’s judgment reflected a lack of sensitivity. The Supreme Court also sought responses from the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government, and requested the assistance of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Attorney General R Venkataramani.
The controversial order was passed by Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, who allowed the revision plea of two accused, Pawan and Akash, in a case from Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh.
The Allahabad HC had argued that the facts of the case did not substantiate the charges of attempt to rape, requiring the prosecution to demonstrate actions beyond the preparatory stage.
