JOIN USThe Supreme Court on Wednesday said there cannot be any compromise between perpetrator and victim in rape and attempt to rape cases.
Any liberal approach or thought of mediation on the promise of marriage in such cases would be legally impermissible and would only show lack of sensibility towards the dignity of a woman, it added.
“We would like to clearly state that in a case of rape or attempt to rape, the conception of compromise under no circumstances can really be thought of. These are crimes against the body of a woman which is her own temple. These are offences which suffocate the breath of life and sully the reputation,” a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant said.
The apex court was dealing with an appeal filed by the Madhya Pradesh government, challenging a high court verdict which had reduced the five-year jail term awarded to a man to slightly more than a year after holding him guilty of lesser charge of outraging modesty of a 7-year-old girl. The trial court had convicted him of rape.
Sending the matter back to the high court for re-examination, the apex court noted that the judge was influenced by a compromise arrived between the accused and parents of the victim.
The bench deprecated such a practice saying some of the appellate judges, contrary to the precedents and against the normative mandate of law, assumed a presumptuous role that “ruptures the sense of justice and punctures the criminal justice dispensation system.”
‘Spectacular error’
The apex court verdict is significant in view of a recent Madras High Court order granting bail to a rape accused to mediate with the victim. The high court order had invited criticism from the civil society.
Calling such a decision “spectacular error”, the bench said, “Sometimes solace is given that the perpetrator of the crime has acceded to enter into wedlock with her (victim) which is nothing but putting pressure in an adroit manner; and we say with emphasis that the courts are to remain absolutely away from this subterfuge to adopt a soft approach to the case.”
The court said there cannot be a compromise or settlement in rape cases as it would go against the honour of the women which is sacrosanct.