The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the registry of the court in a rape case, taking suo motu cognizance of the controversial verdict of the Patna High Court and said that some objectionable comments have been made in the judgment. The Patna High Court had on July 9 acquitted a man accused of rape, saying that trying to take off a woman’s salwar and pressing her chest does not “clearly establish” that it was an attempt at rape.
The bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana took suo motu cognizance and said that there are some objectionable comments in the judgment.
What did the Patna High Court say?
The Patna High Court had quashed the conviction of a man accused of attempting to sexually assault a customer inside a photography studio, saying the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations. The woman’s attempt to take off her salwar and press her chest cannot be considered as an attempt to rape. Especially when there is no evidence of sexual intercourse and no act of rape intent is revealed. It is an offence to outrage the dignity of a woman, but the offence of attempt to rape is not proved.
The court had said that even if the prosecution’s case is accepted “in its entirety”, “at most” it becomes an offence under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to assault or use of criminal force with intent to outrage the modesty of a woman.
What is the whole matter?
After this decision, the accused was acquitted. The case was registered in 2008 in Banka, Bihar. On January 20, 2008, an FIR was filed against the owner of a studio in Banka, Bihar. The woman alleged that she had gone to pose for a photo with her father, where the studio owner locked the door of the studio. He tried to take off my salwar and started pressing his chest with the intention of raping me.
The case lasted 13 years.
In 2013, the Banka court convicted the studio owner of attempt to rape and sentenced him to 3 years imprisonment. The lower court’s decision was challenged by the studio owner in the Patna High Court. After 13 years, on July 9, 2026, the Patna High Court said that there is no evidence of apparent physical effort even in the attempt to commit rape, so the accused is acquitted.
