Rapists may get lesser punishment in special cases: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has said that a rape convict can be awarded lesser punishment if courts find “adequate and special” reasons for doing so.

The Supreme Court has said that a rape convict can be awarded lesser punishment if courts find “adequate and special” reasons for doing so.

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A bench of justices MY Eqbal and Pinaki Chandra Ghose upheld the conviction of Madhya Pradesh resident Ravindra in a 20-year-old rape case and allowed him to walk free after imposing a jail term already undergone by him.

Referring to a case law, the court considered as “adequate and special” reasons the fact that Ravindra and the victim have entered into a compromise and that the victim wants to close the case as both of them are married (not to each other). Section 376 (2) (g) of the IPC provides that the courts “for adequate and special reasons” may impose a sentence of imprisonment of either description for a term of less than 10 years.

Ravindra was awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment for raping a woman on August 24, 1994. The Madhya Pradesh high court dismissed his appeal in 2013 and upheld his conviction and sentence, saying that in prosecution of rape, the law does not require corroboration of evidence.