Suspension of rape convicts' sentence stayed

The trial court had slapped a sentence of seven years on one accused and 20 years on the remaining three accused.

Update: 2017-11-06 19:45 GMT
Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, Aniruddha Bose and AS Bopanna were administered oath of office by the CJI. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the order of the Punjab and Haryana high court, suspending the sentence awarded to the three law students from Jindal Global Law School who were convicted for blackmailing and gang raping a student of the same university for about two years.

The trial court had slapped a sentence of seven years on one accused and 20 years on the remaining three accused. The high court, disbelieving the evidence of the girl, suspended the sentence on the condition that they would not leave the country, abstain from contacting the victim in any manner and would undergo psychiatric counselling, “until they are free of the charges.”

The girl has challenged  this order. A Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan also issued notice to the three accused.

Assailing the high court order, the victim girl said the three students Vikas, Karan and Hardik had a diabolic design to ravage her by acting on the repeated threats of making her nude pictures public. One of the accused was always cautious of not leaving trace of his involvement with the victim anywhere and he would stress upon the gate passes being obtained by the victim herself to move out of the university campus.

She alleged that the accused made her his slave and would make her perform strange acts on the basis of threats. The victim would be often made to strip down naked frequently to send more nude pictures to the other two accused. The victim was severely damaged in her physical and mental health and was at the verge of collapsing anytime pursuant to the immense-inhuman torture being meted out to her.

However, at the same time, the victim was put in pitiable predicament, as she could not disclose the said facts to anybody, including her parents, as she immensely feared being shamed in public amidst her friends and teachers in the university where she had arrived to build her career.

She said the high court by suspending the sentence not only lacked sensitivity towards the victim of the gruesome crime but was also against the settled law of the country. The misplaced sympathy of the high court in favour of the convicts ran counter to the interests of the society. She said the character or reputation of the victim is wholly irrelevant for the purposes of the conviction or sentencing of the accused.

Moreover, while suspending the sentences of the convicts, the high court has adversely commented upon various aspects of the prosecution case, which could be adjudicated upon only at the conclusion of the appeal. The high court, in the impugned order, has found the version of the prosecution doubtful, before the hearing of the appeal thereby prejudicing the prosecution’s case in the appeal. She prayed for quashing the high court order and an interim stay of its operation.

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