The Supreme Court today stayed controversial observations made by the Allahabad High Court, which had ruled that acts of grabbing a child victim's breasts, breaking the string of her pyjama, and attempting to drag her beneath a culvert do not constitute the offence of rape or attempt to rape.

The Apex Court found the High Court's Order totally insensitive and termed it an "inhumane approach."

The Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih was hearing a suo motu case examining the March 17 ruling of the Allahabad High Court.

Expressing strong disapproval, Justice Gavai remarked, "It is a serious matter. Total insensitiveness on the part of the judge. This was at the stage of issuing summons! We are sorry to use such harsh words against the judge."

Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta concurred with the Court’s concerns, stating, "Yes, I agree; it is very serious... the way it was dealt with and said that it was mere preparation, etc. The Chief Justice of the High Court, as master of the roster, should take some steps."

Justice Gavai further observed, "We are pained to state that it shows a total lack of sensitivity on the part of the author of the judgment. It was not even at the spur of the moment but delivered four months after reserving the order. Thus, there was application of mind. We are usually hesitant to grant a stay at this stage, but since observations in paras 21, 24, and 26 are unknown to the canons of law and show an inhuman approach, we stay the observations in the said paras."

The Bench issued notices to the Union of India, the State of Uttar Pradesh, and the parties involved in the High Court proceedings. It also directed the Attorney General and Solicitor General to assist the Court in the matter. The Special Leave Petition (SLP) related to the case was also tagged along for hearing.

Additionally, the Court ordered its Registrar Judicial to immediately communicate this directive to the Registrar of the Allahabad High Court and directed that the Chief Justice of the High Court take necessary steps as deemed appropriate. "The registrar judicial shall forthwith communicate this order to the registrar of Allahabad High Court to place this before the chief justice of the high court and take steps that he deems fit," the Court ordered.

A Counsel representing the mother of the victim also moved the Supreme Court seeking intervention, which the Court allowed.

The Court has now, scheduled the matter for hearing after two weeks, on a Tuesday.

Allahabad High Court Order

The High Court was considering a Criminal Revision Petition against an order of the Special Judge, POCSO Act, whereby the Revisionists were summoned to face trial for charge under Sections 376 IPC read with Section 18 of POCSO Act and Sections 504 and 506 IPC.

The Single Judge Bench of Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mihra had observed, "After giving a thoughtful consideration and meticulous examination of the facts of the case, this court is of the considered opinion that mere fact that according to prosecution version two accused Pawan and Akash grabbed the breasts of the victim and one of them namely Akash broke the string of her pyjama and tried to drag her beneath the culvert and in the meanwhile on interference of passersby/witnesses the accused persons fled away from the spot leaving the victim behind, is not sufficient to hold that a case of Section 376, 511 IPC or Section 376 IPC read with Section 18 of POCSO Act has been made out against the accused persons."

"In the present case, the allegation against accused Pawan and Akash is that they grabbed the breasts of the victim and Akash tried to bring down the lower garment of the victim and for that purpose they had broken string of her lower garments and tried to drag her beneath the culvert, but due to intervention of witnesses they left the victim and fled away from the place of incident. This fact is not sufficient to draw an inference that the accused persons had determined to commit rape on victim as apart from these facts no other act is attributed to them to further their alleged desire to commit rape on the victim," the Court had observed.

Cause Title: In Re: Order dates 17.03.2025 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Criminal Revision No. 1449/2024 and Ancillary Issues Versus


Justice BR GavaiJustice Augustine George MasihAllahabad High CourtRape Case

Sukriti Mishra

    Sukriti Mishra was a Legal Correspondent at Verdictum. She covered the Supreme Court. She completed her graduation with BA. LL.B (Hons.) from The ICFAI University, Dehradun. Sukriti started covering courts in March 2022. She had previously worked with another legal news portal, where she covered the Delhi High Court and Trial Courts.