The Delhi High Court today said that the judges should not mention the name of the victims of sexual harassment. Justice SP Garg said this while noting that a magistrate as well as district and sessions judge had mentioned the name of victim in their orders in a molestation case.
Judicial officers should not mention the name of victims in the judgments passed in sexual assault cases and they “must avoid” disclosing the identity to protect their reputation, the Delhi High Court has said.
The court noted it while dismissing a revision petition filed by a man challenging the legality and correctness of a July 2014 judgement passed by the district and sessions judge on his appeal against a magisterial court’s verdict convicting him for the offence under section 354 (molestation) of IPC.
During the hearing before the high court, the counsel appearing for the man had argued that he was not challenging the findings of the conviction.
The lawyer requested the court to take a lenient view considering the fact that the man was around 70-year-old and has remained in custody for “sufficient duration”. “The court refused to show any leniency observing that the man was “well aware of the consequences of his act” and the victim was “like his grand-daughter”.
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