‘No basic public safety, expressing solidarity no solution’: SC pulls up system amid rising rape cases in Delhi | India News
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance of recent rape cases in Delhi-NCR, saying the incidents point to a “systematic failure” by law-enforcement and public administrative authorities to ensure basic public safety.A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran directed the court registry to register a suo motu public interest litigation on the issue and list it for hearing.“The reports of rape cases in Delhi-NCR starkly underline a systematic failure on the part of the law enforcement and the public administrative authorities to guarantee basic public safety,” news agency PTI quoted the bench saying.The court said the incidents brought back “painful parallels” with the 2012 Nirbhaya case and raised questions over whether law-enforcement mechanisms had made meaningful progress since then.“One cannot help but draw painful parallels with the 2012 Nirbhaya case, raising the question of whether systemic law-enforcement mechanisms have made any meaningful progress in the decade since then,” Bar and Bench quoted Justice Pardiwala saying.The bench said the right to live with dignity and without fear of violence is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.It said public spaces such as parks, roads, buses, metro stations, subways and footbridges cannot be allowed to become high-risk zones because of inadequate lighting, poor surveillance, lack of patrolling or other preventable administrative deficiencies.The court’s observations came against the backdrop of multiple sexual assault cases reported in the national capital.A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by the conductor and driver of a sleeper bus after boarding it in Greater Noida on August 4. She was later abandoned near Kashmere Gate in Old Delhi, over 40 km away. Both accused have been arrested.The Supreme Court also said statements by public authorities and elected representatives expressing concern over such incidents, while understandable, do not address the larger question of institutional accountability.
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“Expressing solidarity is not a solution to this social evil,” the bench said, calling for a measurable response and accountability from authorities responsible for preventing crime, maintaining public order and protecting vulnerable people.The court’s intervention also follows the August 4 gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl on a sleeper bus in Greater Noida. The teenager was allegedly assaulted by the bus conductor and driver and abandoned near Kashmere Gate, over 40 km away. Both accused have been arrested.
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