SC blocks compromise route to leniency for rapists NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that there cannot be a compromise between victims and accused inrapecasesandtheculpritsactcould not be condoned even if the victims forgave them. An apex court bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam,Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice Ranjan Gogoi ruled that such compromises,if enteredinto,areillegalandtheprovision for lesser punishment for heinous offences in exceptional cases cannot be treatedinacasualoracavaliermanner by a trial court.The apex court expressed grave concern that in recent times,despite a spurt in rape cases,there has been an increasing tendency amongst trial courts to permit compromises of such offences on the ground that a settlement has been entered into between the rapist and the victim. The court described such an approach by the some trial and high courtsas"insensitive"holdingthatthe punishmentshouldalwaysbeproportionate and commensurate to the gravity of the offence. Chief Justice Sathasivam said: Religion,race,caste,economic or social status of the accused or victim or the long pendency of the criminal trial or offer of the rapist to marry the victim or the victim is married and settled in life cannot be construed as special factors for reducing the sentence prescribed by the statute." The judges said the apex court in the past had noted that "few subordinate and high courts have reduced the sentence of the accused to the period already undergone to suffice as the punishment,by taking aid of the proviso to Section 376(2) IPC. The court described this trend insensitive and said: The above trend exhibits stark insensitivity to the need for proportionate punishments to be imposed in such cases. IANS
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 10:19:41 +0000
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