Supreme Court Sets Aside ‘Pyjama String’ Ruling, Calls for Sensitivity Guidelines in Sexual Offence Cases

In a significant intervention, the Supreme Court has set aside an Allahabad High Court ruling that had held that grabbing a woman’s breast and pulling the string of her pyjama did not amount to an attempt to commit rape. The apex court ruled that such conduct, on the face of it, could constitute an attempt to commit rape and termed the High Court’s reasoning a patently erroneous application of settled criminal law principles.

The order was passed by a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N.V. Anjaria while disposing of a suo motu case taken up in response to the controversial High Court judgment.

Emphasising the urgent need for sensitivity in handling sexual offence cases, the Supreme Court directed the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, to constitute a committee of experts to frame comprehensive guidelines for judicial conduct and approach in such matters. The committee, to work under the supervision of Justice (Retd.) Aniruddha Bose, has been tasked with preparing recommendations aimed at embedding compassion and sensitivity in judicial processes involving vulnerable victims.

The Court observed that previous efforts by constitutional courts and institutions to address such concerns had not yielded sufficient results. It noted that any effective framework must be informed by past initiatives, practical experiences of stakeholders, and expert inputs from diverse fields including linguistics, law, social sciences, and counselling.

The committee has also been asked to consider India’s linguistic diversity and identify potentially offensive expressions commonly used in local dialects that may go unrecognised as harmful. The objective, the Court said, is to enable victims to better articulate their experiences and ensure that judicial processes remain accessible and understandable, particularly for women, children, and other vulnerable groups.

Stressing clarity and accessibility, the Court directed that the proposed guidelines be drafted in simple language so they can be easily understood and utilised by those they are intended to protect.

Underscoring the broader principle, the Supreme Court observed that justice cannot be fully realised if judicial processes remain detached from the lived realities and vulnerabilities of litigants. Decisions at every stage of the legal process, the Court said, must reflect compassion, humanity, and understanding to ensure a fair and effective justice system.