New Delhi, Sep 23 The Supreme Court on Wednesday took cognisance on its own of a controversial Patna High Court judgment on rape and issued notice to the court’s registry in the matter, saying that there were offending observations in the verdict.
The Patna High Court on July 9 acquitted a man accused of rape, maintaining that that attempting to remove a woman’s salwar and pressing her chest does “not unequivocally establish” an attempt to rape.
On Wednesday, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana exercised its suo motu jurisdiction and said there are some offending observations in the judgment.
The Patna High Court, while setting aside the conviction of a man accused of attempting to sexually assault a client inside his photography studio, had held that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations. It observed that even if its case were accepted “in its entirety”, it would, “at best”, make out an offence of assault or criminal force intended to outrage a woman’s modesty under Section 354 of the IPC.
(PTI News)
