Allahabad High Court calls for sensitivity in cases involving rape survivors, differently-abled people

Allahabad High Court judges on Sunday said subordinate courts in Uttar Pradesh should be more sensitive towards differently-abled victims and rape survivors in dispensation of justice.

The high court judges were addressing over 200 judicial officers, including district judges from Lucknow, Kanpur, Sitapur, Raebareli, Unnao and Ayodhya, on the second day of a conference held at the Judicial Training and Research Institute (JTRI) here.

The two-day conference on "Sensitisation of District Court Judges on Gender Justice and Differently-Abled Victims/Survivors of Sexual Abuse" is aimed to train the subordinate judges, especially dealing with cases related to women and differently-abled persons.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice D K Upadhyay said, "We should develop a culture of respecting women and we should also imbibe a culture of equality in our society.”

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The Constitution does not make a revolution but it is revolutions that make a Constitution, he said.

The high court judges asked the judges of the subordinate courts across the state to be more sensitive towards disabled victims and rape survivors in dispensation of justice to them, and said it should reflect in their judicial attitude and in overall judicial functioning in the courts.

Supreme Court judge Justice Dinesh Maheshwari inaugurated the conference on Saturday.

He had said justice should not be “litigant centric” but “cause centric."

He had also said differently-abled victims needed special attention rather than sympathy.

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"It is empathy which should be embedded in the approach of judging while dealing with disabled victims or survivors of sexual abuse," Justice Maheshwari had said.

Addressing the participants, Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Rajesh Bindal said the pendency of cases in courts in Uttar Pradesh showed that people were not getting justice on time.

In the conference, the participants were divided into five groups and trained by judges and other legal luminaries.

Justice Ramesh Sinha, Justice Sunita Agrawal, Justice J J Munir and Justice Jaspreet Singh of the Allahabad High Court also expressed their views on the occasion.