Akshat Meharia, Week 11

This is a letter written by four senior judges to the Chief Justice of India regarding the Tukaram vs State of Maharashtra case (1978). The brief facts of the case are that Ganpat who was a constable, in the presence of the head constable Tukaram raped a 15year old girl Mathura in the police station at night. The FIR was lodged on those two that day itself to which the session court set the accused free by saying that the intercourse between Ganpat and Mathura was consensual as there was no proof of resistance by mathura’s side and no one heard Mathura’s voice shouting for any help.
The high court turned the case in Mathura’s favour by holding Ganpat and Tukaram  guilty of forcing Mathura into a non-consensual intercourse and sentenced Tukaram for 5 years imprisonment and Ganpat for 1 year. But the Supreme court again over ruled the high court’s judgment and supported the facts and judgment of the sessions court and set aside the case which was charged upon the police officers. To this case these judges have written to the CJI that in this case women’s right were violated in high scale and gave reasons on how the supreme court judgment wasn’t practical in any sense. They also said that the supreme court should have only focused on the Section 375 of the IPC. They also indicated the difference between the words submission and consent and gave several counters to the reasons which were considered valid by the supreme court. They asked the CJI consider re-application of this case and maybe if police officers were acquitted, then there should be proper reasons given rather than those which were given earlier.