No safety for women in national capital: Apex court

Law student files PIL, seeks setting up of board to compensate victims

The Supreme Court on Friday expressed serious concern over the safety of women in Delhi after the recent gang-rape case, lamenting that such incidents were being repeated, becoming a major cause of worry.

A bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said that it wanted that safe environment must be restored among the women in Delhi.

“There is no safety in the city and it has to come back,” the Bench observed.
Hearing a PIL, the court pointed out that the December 16 gang-rape case was not an isolated incident.

“Even after the Delhi incident (and all the talk about extra measures for safety), it is being repeated in the city,” the Bench said.

“We are more concerned about safe environment where women can work with honour and dignity and that must be restored,” the court observed.

The court issued notices to the Centre and Delhi government on a PIL by Nipun Saxena, a fourth year student of National Law University.

In his PIL, Saxena sought direction for implementation of a host of measures like cancellation of bus permits in case of violation of Motor Vehicles Act and setting up a Criminal Injuries Compensation Board for payment of compensation to victims of rape.

Arguing for himself, the law student pleaded that the owner of the bus in which the girl was gang-raped in a brutal manner on December 16 last should not be allowed to operate buses.

He sought direction by the court to State Transport Authority and the police agencies to immediately cancel and revoke the licences and permits of the buses operating at odd timings and conducted their business without complying with the provision of the Motor Vehicles Act.

In a connected matter, the Bench also issued notice to the Centre and the National Commission for Women (NCW) on an interlocutory application seeking a complete ban on the two-finger test conducted on rape victims for ascertaining sexual assault.

The plea filed by advocate Ankita claimed the test conducted on rape victims as part of their medical examination was against the very dignity of women.