Rise in child rapes: Top court revives key issue in case it shut days earlier

The Supreme Court last month disposed of a suo motu public interest petition it had initiated in 2019 to address the alarming rise in child rape cases across the country — only for another bench to revive a key unresolved aspect of the same matter barely a week later, providing a telling commentary on institutional memory and follow-through.

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI:

The petition, registered as "In Re: Alarming Rise in the Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents", was formally closed on May 15 by a bench led by Justice Bela M Trivedi, as one of her last orders before retiring. Justice Trivedi retired on June 9 but her last working day was May 16, owing to an overseas trip.

But on May 23, another bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna admitted a new writ petition that brought back to centre stage a long-forgotten issue in the same case — the framing and implementation of a dedicated compensation, rehabilitation, welfare and education scheme for Pocso (protection of children from sexual offences) victims.

The near-immediate revival of the compensation issue, which was left unattended despite explicit directions by the top court five years ago, lays bare a systemic lapse — a PIL that lasted six years was wrapped up without taking one of its most vital components to its logical conclusion.