Delhi HC: Spare minor assault victims trauma in court

The court added that hybrid hearings should be conducted in bail hearings for the convenience of both the accused and minor victim

The Delhi high court on Thursday said that no minor victim of sexual assault should be brought face to face with the perpetrator in a court, likening the situation to revisiting the trauma for the victim, and directed that either victims should be produced virtually or should be allowed to be represented by an authorised person.

Issuing a slew of guidelines on court appearances by such minors, justice Jasmeet Singh that being in the same court with the accused can have an adverse impact on the pysche of the child.

The court added that hybrid hearings should be conducted in bail hearings for the convenience of both the accused and minor victim.

Issuing a slew of guidelines on court appearances by such minors, justice Jasmeet Singh that being in the same court with the accused can have an adverse impact on the pysche of the child.

While hearing an appeal by an accused in a case of sexual assault of a minor girl, the court noted that the psychological impact on a victim in a Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) case being present in court during the arguments “is grave as there are allegations, accusations, doubting the integrity, character, etc. of the prosecutrix, her family, etc”.

“The presence of the prosecutrix victim in court at the time of arguments, according to me, has an adverse impact on the psyche of the prosecutrix. The prosecutrix is forced to be present in court with the accused, who is the same person who has allegedly violated her. It was felt that it would be in the interest of the victim that she is not traumatized again and again by re-living the said incident by being present in court proceedings,” the court said.

“Hybrid form of hearing of bail applications would suitably address the concerns of the victim while at the same time safeguarding the rights of the accused. Victim and the accused shall not come face to face in this manner and this can prevent the re-traumatisation of the victim,” the court said in an order on January 11. The judgment was shared on the court website on Thursday.

The court said that the victim can take the assistance of either the investigating officer (IO) or a support person, or the District Legal Services Authority (DSLA) for appearing virtually in the court.

The judge also said that if an alleged victim gives in writing that her counsel or parent or guardian or support person will appear on her behalf, and make submissions on the bail application, the parties should not insist on her physical or virtual presence.

The counsel for the accused and a representative of the legal services authority had pointed out that many victims in Pocso cases were being asked to appear physically or virtually in court at the time of hearing on bail applications.

Advocate Adit S Pujari, accused’s lawyer, had contended that victims were forced to potentially interact with the accused.Noting the submissions, the high court asked the lawyers in the case to give suggestive practice directions to which the judge agreed.

According to new court guidelines, whenever a victim comes to court for a bail hearing, the support person provided to her should be present with her to extend necessary psychological or logistical support.

The court also clarified that in cases where both the accused and the victims are minor, the presence of the victim is not required as the considerations for the grant of bail would not be dependent on the apprehensions of the minor victim.

The judge added that after the bail plea has been disposed of, a copy of the order shall be mandatorily sent to the victim as “this becomes important since the victim’s main concern is her safety in case the accused is released on bail”.

The court also said that judicial officers should be sensitised about the need to reduce the interface of victim with the accused in court to bare minimum and to permit her to be represented through an authorised person at the time of hearing of bail application.

Issuing directions on the type of questions to be posed to the child victim during the proceedings for grant of bail to the accused, the court said, “……appropriate questions may be put to her to elicit her response instead of bluntly asking her “Do you want bail to be given to the accused or not?” questions can be put to her to ascertain what her apprehensions and fears are in case the accused is granted bail in the matter”.