SC agrees to examine PIL seeking pan-India safety guidelines for protection of women

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the issuance of pan-India safety guidelines, reforms, and measures for the protection of women.

A bench, headed by Justice Surya Kant and compromising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, issued notice and sought the response of the Union government in the matter. "We will have to examine where we are lacking to achieve the goal of punitive and penal law. There is not something wrong with the quantity of punishment, but something else," the bench remarked.

The plea will be heard next in January 2025. Senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, appearing for the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association, said that the Parliament has enacted stringent laws but due to "unwillingness, corruption, and laxity in the police and administrative stakeholders", the timely and effective implementation of these laws doesn't take place and hence, there is no fear among the criminals. The PIL urged the apex court to take judicial notice and frame strict guidelines with a sharper focus on its time-bound implementation to prevent incidents of sexual violence against women.

Further, it beseeched the court to invoke the doctrine of ‘parens patriae’ to safeguard the fundamental rights of women, children, and the third gender in the country, including their right to safety, a secure workplace, adequate sanitation, personal dignity, bodily integrity, and a safe environment. The plea highlighted the macabre surge of crimes against women, girls and infants, reported across the country specifically in Kolkata, Delhi, Bihar, Karnataka, Assam, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and other parts, at the hands of carnal delinquents, paedophiles, sex maniacs, and sexual offenders.

It referred to the heart-wrenching incident of gangrape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in the early hours of August 9, which has shaken the collective conscience of the country to the core and is a ghastly reminder to show that nothing has improved since 2012. "The recent Kolkata gangrape of young lady trainee doctor is only one amongst the many which has highlighted the deep-rooted ineptness, red-tapism, bureaucratic cowardice by the law enforcement agencies, political hooliganism, and the brutal, nefarious and grisly state of affairs concerning the safety of women in India. From Nirbhaya Rape Case to Abhaya, the brutality has only manifested into an animalistic expression against women," the petition said.

It added that instead of politicising sensitive issues, the government must pay more attention to the safety of vulnerable citizens and should increase the funds allocated for the security of women, children, and third gender. "The harsh reality is that India awakes when there is a media trial which happens only in a few horrifying rape cases which jolt and traumatise the public," the petition said.

The PIL sought directions to schools to have gender sensitivity classes along with sex education and regular workshops by qualified child psychologists and counsellors where boys and girls are taught about biological changes in the body during their teenage years and how to handle these in a healthy manner. It said that in view of the alarming rise in adolescent-related issues relating to lack of correct knowledge about gender equity, life skills, sexual harassment and abuse, legal ages for marriage, juvenile delinquency, etc., the governments should be directed to take efforts for the development and implementation of nationwide adolescent programmes.