NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday noted that there are “some issues difficult for the Court to resolve,” while hearing a plea seeking the enforcement of the Right to Privacy of adolescents. The top court listed the matter for further hearing on March 19.”These are some of the issues very difficult for the Court to resolve. When we see such matters, we realize that there are grave limitations on our power,” said a two-judge bench of the apex court, led by Justice Abhay S. Oka.The apex court was hearing a case where a minor girl, a victim of sexual assault, eloped with and married the man facing charges under the POCSO Act.During the course of the hearing on Thursday, Senior Advocates Madhavi Divan and Liz Mathew—who were appointed as Amicus Curiae in the case—submitted that it was a “very strong indictment of systemic failure at all levels—family, social, school, police, and legal.”After hearing them, the Supreme Court sought their suggestions for preventing the suffering of adolescent girls and their families and fixed the matter for further hearing on March 19.It is significant to note that the case reached the apex court after the Calcutta High Court acquitted the accused, who had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for establishing sexual relations with the minor victim.The High Court had issued a slew of recommendations, including that an adolescent girl must “control sexual urges as, in the eyes of society, she is the loser when she gives in to enjoy the sexual pleasure of hardly two minutes.”‘Adolescent girls must control their sexual urges,’ says Calcutta HC; acquits youth convicted for raping minor girlFollowing the delivery of the High Court judgment, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the case with respect to the remarks made by the High Court on teenage girls.In August 2024, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court judgment and restored the conviction of the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 6 of the POCSO Act.The top court had stated that the observations by the High Court were completely in violation of the rights of adolescents under Article 21 of the Constitution.The apex court further directed the State of West Bengal to constitute a three-member committee of experts to help the minor victim in the case make an informed choice regarding her future.The West Bengal government had also moved the Supreme Court against the October 18, 2023, verdict of the High Court.The Supreme Court had earlier stated that judges should not express their personal beliefs or opinions or try to preach while hearing the suo motu cognizance case regarding the High Court’s verdict stating that adolescent girls must control their sexual urges instead of giving in to two minutes of pleasure.
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