SC takes cognisance of Patna HC's 'offending remarks' in rape case

New Delhi: The apex court on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of a July 9 Patna High Court verdict, which held that attempting to remove a woman's salwar and pressing her chest did not, on the facts of the case, constitute an attempt to rape.

A three-member bench of CJI Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said the high court judgment contained "some offending observations". The bench indicated that it could set aside HC's judgement only after hearing the accused. The CJI directed Bihar advocate general SD Sanjay to ensure, through the local police, that notice was served on the accused.

The high court, in its July 9 verdict, had set aside the conviction of Himanshu Kumar Pathak, alias Mithiya Pathak, who had been convicted by a trial court under sections 376/511 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code in connection with a 2008 case in Bihar's Banka district.


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According to the prosecution, the woman had accompanied her father to the accused's photography studio. The accused allegedly asked her father to step outside to view a photograph on a computer, bolted the studio door from inside, undressed himself and attempted to remove the woman's salwar. He was also alleged to have molested her by pressing her chest. The woman raised an alarm, following which her father forced open the door.

The trial court had convicted the accused and sentenced him to three years' rigorous imprisonment, with the sentences to run concurrently.

HC, however, held that the prosecution had failed to establish an overt act unequivocally demonstrating an intention to rape. It observed there was no evidence of penetration, even to the slightest extent, or any overt act constituting an attempt to rape.