Indian Courts Act Numb With Insensate Rulings

Courts in India have caused abuzz in the country with two recently renounced verdicts as the Supreme Court of India has ruled an insensate verdict on the petition for protection by the makers and actors of the controversial movie Tandav, while, on the other hand, the Bombay High Court has maintained that groping someone with clothes does not come under sexual assault.

Tandav has been streaming on Amazon Prime and a particular scene from the drama has kicked off furor against the star and the series.

An FIR has been registered against the director and writer of the series along with the star cast for allegedly ridiculing and tarnishing Hindu gods.

However, the Supreme Court of India has refused to grant protection to the makers and actors from arrest.

The decision has sparked an irk among the Bollywood stars and they have come up with strong criticism against the court’s verdict.

Bollywood actress Richa Chadha penned down her protest against the decision in a post on Twitter with several users popping up in favor of her comment.

Priorities of the apex court ! https://t.co/nJNH6tn6oO

— TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) January 28, 2021

Meanwhile, actress Gauhar Khan and starrer of Tandav has also retweeted a post by a user in response to the bench’s comment.

“You accepted the contract after reading the script. You cannot hurt religious sentiments”.

To which the user replied that was retweeted by Gauhar Khan with three “face with monocle” emojis.

Konkona Sensharma, a Bollywood actress, has also reacted to the decision in a recent post.

Almost all involved in the show have read the script and signed the contract! Let’s arrest the whole cast and crew? https://t.co/xbqbQ641D7

— Konkona Sensharma (@konkonas) January 28, 2021

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In another case, the Bombay High Court has acquitted a man of sexual assault for groping a child and maintained that only “skin-to-skin” touch can constitute sexual assault.

The rulings drew criticism by the members of civil society over its interpretation of the case against 39-year-old Bandu Ragde who was accused of luring a 12-year old girl to his house and molested her.

Similarly, Justice Pushpa Ganediwala orders a similar statement in case of molestation of a minor that “The acts of ‘holding the hands of the prosecutrix’ (female victim), or ‘opened zip of the pant’, does not fit in the definition of ‘sexual assault’”.

The honourable Bombay high court’s decision on that child molestation case needs to be revisited at the earliest. Something that does not even sound right, how can that be upheld. Groping is a an assault on a woman, imagine what it does to a child.

— Vikram Aggarwal (@vikramagg) January 25, 2021

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed a ‘disturbing’ decision of the Bombay high court (HC) which held that groping a minor girl without touching her skin did not amount to sexual assault under Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

— I am Narayan (@NarayanIndia1) January 27, 2021

With the recent verdicts, it seems like the courts and judiciary in so-called secular India has been acting numb and insensate towards the critical issues prevailing in the state right now.