The Supreme Court on Friday sought Attorney General K K Venugopal’s assistance in a plea filed by nine women lawyers to set aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order of granting bail to an accused in a molestation case on the condition that he requests the complainant to tie him a ‘rakhi’.
A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar issued notice to the office of Attorney General K K Venugopal on an appeal filed by nine women lawyers who have said that courts across the country should be restrained from imposing such conditions as these are “against the principle of law”.
The high court, in its July 30 order, 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 ‘Rakhi’ to him with the promise to protect her to the best of his ability for all times to come.
Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the petitioners including lawyer Aparna Bhat, told the bench that the appeal has been filed in an extraordinary circumstance.
The trauma of the victim is trivialised by such conditions, Parikh told the bench, also comprising Justice B R Gavai. These kinds of conditions are imposed which are against the principle of law.
Repeatedly such observations are being made, he said. Are you submitting only for Madhya Pradesh or the entire country, the bench asked.
It said another question of law which arises for consideration of the apex court in the matter is whether the high court ought to have employed circumspection and sensitivity while dealing with a case involving a sexual offence having been committed against a woman.
“The high court erred in imposing a condition that defeated the very purpose of granting bail by directing the alleged perpetrator to establish contact with the victim,” the plea said.
