Gujarat HC Orders Production of Rape Accused to Explore Possibility of ‘Compromise’

Hearing the plea of ​​a 16-year-old girl who had been raped seeking permission to have an abortion, the Gujarat High Court on Thursday asked the authorities to bring the accused so that the possibility of a ‘compromise’ between him and the girl could be explored.

Earlier, the court ordered a medical examination for the rape survivor.

After recording notes submitted by her lawyer and medical reports provided by a panel of doctors, Judge Sameer Dave on Thursday directed the authorities to bring in the 23-year-old accused, who is in judicial custody in Morbi prison, on Friday. evening.

Where is the accused? The judge asked the survivor’s lawyer, Iskandar Sayad, before issuing the order, any chance of settlement?

Lawyer Sayyad told the court that he had done his best to explore the possibility of a compromise, but that “the accused was not ready.”

To this Judge Dave said, “Well, I’ll call him. If he’s behind bars, I can call him. Let me ask him… Let me make sure of the boy…. I’ve thought of some solutions. But I’m not disclosing them. And he’ll look tomorrow.” Lawyer Sayad replied that if the accused is ready, “the dismissal ends.” “It would save three lives,” he added.

But Assistant Attorney General Jaswant Shah intervened, saying that earlier “something the court said in good faith was not taken unnecessarily… I am worried about misquotation.” Shah was referring to Judge Dave’s remark last week during the hearing in the same case. He cited Manusmriti to point out that in the past girls would marry early and give birth to their first child before reaching the age of 17.

In response to Shah, Justice Dev said that the judge should remain “sthita-prajna” (stoic).

“The educated APP says that if something comes from the court, people will criticize you. But one thing I may say is that the judge should be like sthita-prjana as given in the Bhagavad Gita. The judge should be like this. Praise be to the judge,” said the judge. Or criticism, one should ignore both.”

During an earlier hearing, Judge Dave explained that the court may not allow termination of pregnancy if the survivor and fetus are in good condition.

The rape survivor is 16 years and 11 months old and is carrying a seven-month-old fetus. Her father moved Medicare to obtain permission for the abortion because the pregnancy had crossed the 24-week threshold at which an abortion could be performed without court permission.

(This story was not edited by the News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)