Pressing for the need to educate judges, Attorney General K K Venugopal told the Supreme Court on Monday that orders in sexual assault cases asking the accused to get the victim to tie him a ‘rakhi’ are drama.
He urged for gender sensitisation and educating judges on the necessity of focusing on facts particularly when imposing bail conditions.
Venugopal was addressing a Supreme Court bench, which was hearing an appeal against a Madhya Pradesh High Court order granting bail to an accused in a molestation case on the condition that he requests the alleged victim to tie a rakhi.
When the country’s top law officer said there should be gender sensitisation, the bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna, observed, gender sensitisation will be part of our order.
Venugopal told the court that the national judicial academy and state academies should teach that this is not permissible. Judges’ recruitment exams should also have a portion on gender sensitisation, he added.
The appeal by nine women lawyers has sought a stay on the 30 July Madhya Pradesh High Court order and said courts across the country should be restrained from imposing such conditions as these are against the principle of law.
The High Court had granted bail to the accused and imposed a condition that he along with his wife shall visit the house of the complainant and request her to tie a rakhi’ with the promise of protecting her to the best of his ability for all time to come. Updation and sensitisation are must for each and every sector and judiciary is no exception.