The Supreme Court also asked courts to avoid regressive stereotypes in their verdicts.
New Delhi:
Striking down a controversial Madhya Pradesh High Court order that asked a woman to tie a “rakhi” to the man who allegedly assaulted her sexually, the Supreme Court on Thursday issued a set of guidelines for lower courts to consider when passing their verdicts. The top court, which was hearing a petition from nine women lawyers who said such orders were “gross trivialization of the trauma suffered by the complainant”, issued directions for sensitisation of judges and lawyers and also ordered that in such cases, stereotypes must be avoided.
Here are the seven guidelines that the Supreme Court issued for sexual offence cases:
(a) Bail conditions should not mandate, require or permit contact between the accused and the victim. Such conditions should seek to protect the complainant from any further harassment by the accused
(b) Where circumstances exist for the court to believe that there might be a potential threat of harassment of the victim, or upon apprehension expressed, after calling for reports from the police, the nature of protection shall be separately considered and appropriate order made, in addition to a direction to the accused not to make any contact with the victim;
(c) In all cases where bail is granted, the complainant should immediately be informed that the accused has been granted bail and copy of the bail order made over to him/her within two days;
(d) Bail conditions and orders should avoid reflecting stereotypical or patriarchal notions about women and their place in society, and must strictly be in accordance with the requirements of the Cr. PC. In other words, discussion about the dress, behavior, or past “conduct” or “morals” of the prosecutrix, should not enter the verdict granting bail;
(e) The courts while adjudicating cases involving gender related crimes, should not suggest or entertain any notions (or encourage any steps) towards compromises between the prosecutrix and the accused to get married, suggest or mandate mediation between the accused and the survivor, or any form of compromise as it is beyond their powers and jurisdiction;
(f) Sensitivity should be displayed at all times by judges, who should ensure that there is no traumatization of the prosecutrix, during the proceedings, or anything said during the arguments, and
(g) Judges especially should not use any words, spoken or written, that would undermine or shake the confidence of the survivor in the fairness or impartiality of the court.