SC SAYS IT CAN’T MAKE SEXUAL ASSAULT CRIMES GENDER NEUTRAL

NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition to declare the offences of rape, sexual assault, outraging of modesty, voyeurism and stalking as gender-neutral, saying they were meant to protect women, and only the Parliament can change the law.

“These provisions in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) are affirmative provisions to protect women. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act is gender-neutral as it takes care of a child up to 18 years. But these sections protect women and stand on a different footing,” a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra told petitioner, advocate Rishi Malhotra, who asked the court to examine the validity of the sections on the same ground as it has agreed to hear a case against adultery.

Last month, the court agreed to look into the adultery law that punishes only men for the crime.

“Parliament has recognised a degree of harm against women and framed this law. Similarly, in sexual harassment instances, Parliament felt it’s the woman who is the victim and, accordingly, has recommended the law to deal with it,” justice DY Chandrachud, another member of the bench, said.

To Malhotra’s contention that even a man could be stalked or molested, the bench remarked: “This is an imaginative situation.”

Justice Misra added: “Legislations come as a response to social and collective cry. These sections are victim-oriented and the Parliament has acknowledged a woman as the victim. We cannot ask the Parliament to legislate.”

When Malhotra called the provisions archaic, the bench disagreed. “You cannot call them archaic. Not at all,” the CJI said.

Malhotra said the word ‘man’ given in the definition of the sections should be replaced with ‘person’ so that a woman, committing a sexual offence against a man, can be prosecuted. “A man does not have any forum to go to if he is stalked,” he said.