“Every attempt should be made by all the courts not to disclose the identity of the rape victim in terms of Section 228-A IPC”
Supreme Court: The Bench comprising of Abhay Manohar Sapre and Uday Umesh Lalit JJ. while addressing the petition of a convict under Sections 376 and Section 342 IPC and affirming the sentence granted to him by the High Court, took notice of a very essential point of concern, that the name of the ‘rape’ victim has been stated in both the judgments of the Trial Court as well as that of the High Court.
The present order dealt with, the appeal of a rape convict under Sections 376 and 342 IPC with a sentence of 7 and 1 year respectively. The Supreme Court found no merits in intervening with the High Court’s conviction and sentence, therefore, the appeal was dismissed.
The point to be addressed was that of victim’s name being mentioned in the judgments of the Trial Court and High Court, which was inconsistent with Section 228-A of IPC. The Supreme Court while stating that the courts should make every attempt in not disclosing the identity of the victim, relied on the case State of Punjab v. Ramdev Singh (2004) 1 SCC 421.
Therefore, while dismissing the present appeal, the bench focussed on the point regarding the mentioning of rape victim’s name and further directed the Registry of the High Court to place the record of the appeal in the High Court for making appropriate changes in the record and passing of appropriate directions so that the trial courts comply and understand the essence of Section 228-A IPC. [Lalit Yadav v. State of Chhattisgarh, 2018 SCC OnLine SC 680, order dated 05-07-2018]
