West Bengal: Calcutta High Court’s controversial sex education decision challenged in Supreme Court
The West Bengal government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it has filed an appeal challenging the Calcutta High Court’s decision to instruct adolescent girls to “control sexual urges” and train themselves to respect women. Has been advised.
The top court had on December 8 last year criticized the judgment and termed some of the observations made by the high court as “highly objectionable and completely inappropriate”.
The top court, which had initiated the writ petition suo motu in the case, had said that judges are not expected to “preach” while writing judgments.
The matter came up for hearing on Thursday before a bench of Justice A S Oka and Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan.
Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for West Bengal, informed the bench that the state has filed an appeal in the apex court against the high court’s October 18 verdict last year.
“The appeal was listed before another bench of this court today,” he said. Unfortunately she couldn’t sit back.”
The bench said that the suo motu writ petition and the appeal filed by the state will be heard together.
It said, “This is not just about comments. Look at the types of findings.”
“During this period, a number of findings have been recorded,” it said. Where these concepts came from, we do not know. But whatever has been said we want to deal with it. Need your help.”
The bench asked the registry to list the suo motu writ petition and the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the state on January 12 after seeking the approval of the Chief Justice of India.
In its judgment, the high court had said that female teenagers should “control sexual urges” and “not indulge in two minutes of pleasure”.
In its order passed on December 8 last year, the top court had referred to certain observations made by the High Court and said, “Prima facie, the said observations are completely violative of the rights of juveniles guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution . Of India.” It observed that the issue before the High Court was about the legality and validity of the order and judgment dated September 19/20, 2022, by which a person has been booked under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman). Was convicted of an offense under. Force her to marry) under Section 6 of the Indian Penal Code as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
“As per the orders of the Chief Justice of India, the suo motu writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India has been initiated primarily because of the extensive observations/findings recorded in the impugned judgment by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court. ,” it said.
The top court had said that in an appeal against conviction, the High Court was asked to adjudicate only on the merits of the appeal and nothing else.
“But we have found that the High Court has discussed many issues which were irrelevant. Prima facie, we are of the view that judges are not expected to express their personal views while writing judgments in such appeals. They are not expected to preach,” it said.
The high court made the comments while hearing the appeal of a man who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual assault.
It had acquitted the man saying it was a case of “non-exploitative consensual sexual intercourse between two consenting teenagers, although consent is insignificant considering the age of the victim”.
The High Court had also said that it is the duty/obligation of every female adolescent to “protect her right to the integrity of her body; Protect your dignity and self-respect; Strive for holistic development of your self by overcoming gender barriers; Control sexual urges/urges She is considered a loser in the eyes of society when she is ready to enjoy barely two minutes of sexual pleasure; Protect your body autonomy and your right to privacy”.
“It is the duty of an adolescent male to respect the above duties of a young girl or woman and he should train his mind to respect a woman, her self-worth, her dignity and right to privacy and autonomy of her body ” “The High Court had said.
The West Bengal government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it has filed an appeal challenging the Calcutta High Court’s decision to instruct adolescent girls to “control sexual urges” and train themselves to respect women. Has been advised.
The top court had on December 8 last year criticized the judgment and termed some of the observations made by the high court as “highly objectionable and completely inappropriate”.
The top court, which had initiated the writ petition suo motu in the case, had said that judges are not expected to “preach” while writing judgments.
The matter came up for hearing on Thursday before a bench of Justice A S Oka and Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan.
Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for West Bengal, informed the bench that the state has filed an appeal in the apex court against the high court’s October 18 verdict last year.
“The appeal was listed before another bench of this court today,” he said. Unfortunately she couldn’t sit back.”
The bench said that the suo motu writ petition and the appeal filed by the state will be heard together.
It said, “This is not just about comments. Look at the types of findings.”
“During this period, a number of findings have been recorded,” it said. Where these concepts came from, we do not know. But whatever has been said we want to deal with it. Need your help.”
The bench asked the registry to list the suo motu writ petition and the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the state on January 12 after seeking the approval of the Chief Justice of India.
In its judgment, the high court had said that female teenagers should “control sexual urges” and “not indulge in two minutes of pleasure”.
In its order passed on December 8 last year, the top court had referred to certain observations made by the High Court and said, “Prima facie, the said observations are completely violative of the rights of juveniles guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution . Of India.” It observed that the issue before the High Court was about the legality and validity of the order and judgment dated September 19/20, 2022, by which a person has been booked under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman). Was convicted of an offense under. Force her to marry) under Section 6 of the Indian Penal Code as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
“As per the orders of the Chief Justice of India, the suo motu writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India has been initiated primarily because of the extensive observations/findings recorded in the impugned judgment by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court. ,” it said.
The top court had said that in an appeal against conviction, the High Court was asked to adjudicate only on the merits of the appeal and nothing else.
“But we have found that the High Court has discussed many issues which were irrelevant. Prima facie, we are of the view that judges are not expected to express their personal views while writing judgments in such appeals. They are not expected to preach,” it said.
The high court made the comments while hearing the appeal of a man who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual assault.
It had acquitted the man saying it was a case of “non-exploitative consensual sexual intercourse between two consenting teenagers, although consent is insignificant considering the age of the victim”.
The High Court had also said that it is the duty/obligation of every female adolescent to “protect her right to the integrity of her body; Protect your dignity and self-respect; Strive for holistic development of your self by overcoming gender barriers; Control sexual urges/urges She is considered a loser in the eyes of society when she is ready to enjoy barely two minutes of sexual pleasure; Protect your body autonomy and your right to privacy”.
“It is the duty of an adolescent male to respect the above duties of a young girl or woman and he should train his mind to respect a woman, her self-worth, her dignity and right to privacy and autonomy of her body ” “The High Court had said.
