SC overturns Calcutta HC's ruling asking girls to 'control urges'
The Supreme Court has reversed a controversial ruling by the Calcutta High Court, which had advised adolescent girls to control their sexual urges. This decision from the high court had proposed a "duty-based approach" for teenagers and suggested different responsibilities for adolescent females and males, leading to widespread criticism. The bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan described the high court's comments as "sweeping, objectionable, irrelevant, preachy, and unwarranted."
SC criticizes high court's remarks
In December 2023, the Supreme Court took suo moto cognizance of a case involving concerns that the Calcutta High Court's remarks misrepresented adolescent behavior and legal responsibilities. The controversy arose from a decision by the HC's division bench—led by Justices Chitta Ranjan Dash and Partha Sarathi Sen—which acquitted a youth convicted of raping a minor girl with whom he had a "romantic affair." The High Court had interpreted the girl's actions as contributing to the incident, leading to significant backlash.
SC restores conviction
In its ruling, the SC reinstated the conviction of the accused and announced that a committee of experts would determine his sentence. The apex court had taken cognizance of some observations made by a division bench of the high court and initiated a writ petition on its own, observing that judges are not expected to "preach" while writing judgments.
