Curbing crimes against women

A suo motu cognisance by the Supreme Court must be followed by exemplary consequences for lapses by the civil and police administration

A Supreme Court bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran, on Sept 28, took suo motu cognisance of sexual offences across the national capital — a minor was gang-raped in a park last week — and held the police and Delhi government responsible for systemic failure. This is welcome, but also too late and achieves too little. After all, in 2019, while taking cognisance of the rise in sexual violence against children, the SC issued notices to all states, Union Territories, and High Courts to review investigation timelines and forensic infrastructure. Fast Track courts were set up under the SC directives, ironically using the Nirbhaya Fund, which had stayed grossly underutilised until then in creating robust infrastructure to enhance the security and safety of women and compensating the victims of sexual assault. The fund itself was set up 13 years ago, at the same time that laws on sexual violence were amended following some of the Justice JS Verma Committee reports. But despite that, and the court’s interventions, National Crime Records Bureau data shows no let up in crimes against women and minors. According to government figures shared in the Lok Sabha in 2025, the fast track courts, too, have underperformed as they take over four years to conclude rape and POCSO trials.

In 2019, while taking cognisance of the rise in sexual violence against children, the SC issued notices to all states, Union Territories, and High Courts to review investigation timelines and forensic infrastructure. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

Clearly, judicial recommendations and government fund allocations have failed so far to lower overall crime rates. Bureaucratic bottlenecks and indifference have managed to upend almost all well-intentioned plans to ensure safety for almost 700 million citizens of India. This is not a small lapse on the State’s part. The complicity of successive governments at the Centre as well as in the states in poor on-ground execution ought not be underestimated.

A structural overhaul is needed; accountability should not end at merely allocating resources and announcing reforms. The judiciary must ensure that lapses on the part of the police or civil administration in preventing and investigating crimes are punished. The impunity with which sexual offenders operate emanates from these very lapses. A suo motu cognisance, therefore, must be followed by exemplary consequences for those who fail.