On Thursday (4th January), the Supreme Court of India came down heavily on two Calcutta High Court Judges who asked adolescent girls to ‘control sexual urges’ so that they are not deemed ‘loser’ by society.
A 2-Judge Bench of Justice A S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan deemed the observations by the Calcutta High Court as ‘problematic’ and also questioned the legal principles involved in the judgment.
“It’s not only about these observations, but the findings of the court. Writing such judgments is absolutely wrong. What kind of principles the judges have invoked! In case of settlement, there is a series of judgment on that,” Justice AS Oka noted.
He emphasised, “But here, the court has said that the POCSO section should be amended and as the section is not amended, they will exercise power under Section 482.”
On being pointed out about other ‘problematic’ paragraphs in the Calcutta High Court Judgment, the Judge said, “Every paragraph is problematic. We have marked all the paragraphs.”
Judges not expected to preach/ express personal views: Supreme Court
Earlier on 8th December last year, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the Calcutta High Court order and remarked, “In an appeal against conviction, the high court was called upon to decide only the merits of the appeal and nothing else.”
“Prima facie, we are of the view that, in such a case, the judges are not expected to either express their personal views or preach,” it added. The apex courted noted that the observations by the Calcutta High Court were ‘objectionable’ and ‘completely unwarranted.’
It pointed out that the observations also violated the rights of adolescents, as guaranteed by the Indian Constitution under Article 21.
The Background of the Controversy
On 18th October last year, a 2-Judge Bench of the Calcutta High delivered a verdict, overturning the conviction of a 25-year-old man accused of having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
While doing so, Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen listed out specific duties for adolescent boys and girls. The court ruled,
“It is the duty or obligation of every female adolescent to (i) Protect her right to the integrity of her body, (ii) Protect her dignity and self-worth, (iii) Thrive for the overall development of her self-transcending gender barriers, (iv) Control sexual urge or urges as in the eyes of the society she is the loser when she gives in to enjoy the sexual pleasure of hardly two minutes, (v) Protect her right to autonomy of her body and her privacy.It is the duty of a male adolescent to respect the aforesaid duties of a young girl or woman and he should train his mind to respect a woman, her self-worth, her dignity and privacy, and her right to autonomy of her body.
“We do not want our adolescents to do anything that shall push them from the dark to the darker side of life. It is normal for each adolescent to seek the company of the opposite sex, but it is not normal for them to engage in sex devoid of any commitment and dedication. Sex shall come automatically to them when they grow self-reliant, economically independent and a person which they dreamt one day to be, it concluded,” the Judges had said.