Bombay High Court Archives

Marital Rape Jurisprudence: Inconsistencies Reaffirming Cruelty Based on Age

Guest Author08/12/2024044 views

Cruelty anywhere is sickening, but cruelty within marriage is ironic and sickening! Marital rape has been a contested issue since time immemorial. The issue resurfaced after the recent Bombay High Court’s ruling on 12th November 2024, wherein a man’s 10-year jail sentence for committing rape on his minor wife, was upheld. While there is no fault in the court’s decision, the news brought me to many realizations relating to the inconsistencies that plague rape laws in India.

Steering the ‘Menstrual Leave Policy’ Debate in a Legal Direction

Guest Author08/12/2024041 views

The long-standing debate regarding menstrual leave policy (hereinafter referred to as ‘the policy’) has erupted once again since the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking menstrual leave, on 8th July 2024. A three-judge bench consisting of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra stated that the court cannot take up policy matters that fall clearly within the executive’s domain and in turn, directed the government to frame a policy for the same. A concern flagged by CJI DY Chandrachud while dismissing the petition revolves around gender representation as it is feared that recruiters will have lesser preferences for women due to the ‘paid leave’ factor.

Using The Term “Item” To Address Any Girl Is Obviously Insulting In Nature: Special Pocso Court, Mumbai

Guest Author08/12/2024023 views

In its recent judgement the Special POCSO Court at Borivali Division, Dindoshi, Mumbai has observed that “using the term “item” to address any girl is obviously insulting in nature. The accused having addressed her by using the term “item” which is a term used generally by boys to address girls in a derogatory fashion as it sexually objectifies them, the same will indicate his intention of outraging her modesty. Such offences need to be dealt with a heavy hand as a lesson needs to be meted out to such roadside Romeos, to protect the women from their uncalled-for behaviour.” In the course of arguments, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor has also submitted that “a sentence sufficient to send out a proper message to the society at large should be imposed upon the accused as people like him make the lives of the girls miserable, by teasing them and touching them inappropriately when they walk on the road.”

Stand of The Supreme Court on Rights of Sex Workers: The Story so far.

Guest Author08/12/2024021 views

The Indian sex workers case is making the top headline these days. The recent order dated 19-05-2022 given in the case of Budhadev Karmaskar v. State of West Bengal And Ors., popular as the sex workers case the Hon’ble Apex Court has categorically recognized that the basic protection of human decency and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India extends to sex workers and their children, who, bearing the brunt of social stigma attached to their work, are removed to the fringes of the society, deprived of their right to live with dignity and opportunities to provide the same to their children.

‘Skin-To-Skin Contact Not Necessary To Prove Sexual Assault’ Under POSCO, SC Sets Aside Bombay HC’s Bizarre And Controversial Judgement

Guest Author08/12/2024023 views

The Apex Court set aside a Bombay HC judgement which held in January this year that skin-to-skin contact is necessary to claim sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences 2012 (POSCO). The SC’s latest judgement is trivial to the rights of minors, whose cases of sexual assault are already severely under-reoprted.

Marital Rape: A Social and Legal Paradox

Guest Author08/12/2024026 views

Despite 75 years of independence, the social status of women in India still stands in shadows. Grievous crimes and alarming rates of pending cases portray the loopholes in the legal machinery of the Indian legal system. One such appalling act is that of Rape – where the dignity and self-respect of a woman is bruised beyond contemplation.

Dereliction Of The ‘Other Gender’: Deprivation Of Minor Male Sexual Assault Victims By The ‘Skin-Touch’ Doctrine

Guest Author08/12/2024026 views

COVID-19 has been a fertile spawning field of sexual violence. Where some Courts have been deontological and acknowledging of this phenomenon, certain judgments act as a means of disenfranchisement of sexual violence victims.