SC takes suo motu cognisance of controversial Allahabad HC's 'grabbing breasts not rape attempt' order

NEW DELHI: A day after refusing to hear a plea challenging the Allahabad high court’s ruling, which stated that "grabbing a minor girl's breasts, breaking her pyjama strings did not amount to rape or an attempt to rape," the Supreme Court on Tuesday took cognisance of the ruling on its own.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih is slated to hear the matter on Wednesday.
Earlier, a bench comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Prasanna B Varale dismissed the petition, stating that the court was not inclined to entertain it.
The high court ruling came on a case involving two men, Pawan and Akash, who allegedly grabbed the minor’s breasts, tore her pyjama string, and attempted to drag her under a culvert while she was walking with her mother. Initially, they were charged under Section 376 of the IPC (rape) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
However, the Allahabad HC ruled that their actions did not qualify as rape or an attempt to rape but instead fell under the lesser charge of aggravated sexual assault, punishable under Section 354(B) IPC and Section 9(m) of the POCSO Act.
The high court’s ruling was based on the argument that "an attempt to commit rape must go beyond the stage of preparation and actual attempt to commit an offence consists chiefly in the greater degree of determination."
"The specific allegation against Akash is that he tried to drag the victim beneath the culvert and broke the string of her pyjama. It is also not stated by witnesses that due to this act of the accused the victim got naked or got undressed. There is no allegation that accused tried to commit penetrative sexual assault against the victim," the court observed in its order.
In view of this, the court opined that the allegations levelled against the accused and facts of the case hardly constituted an offence of attempt to rape in the case.