THE Supreme Court Thursday set aside the bail condition imposed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court requiring a person accused of “outraging the modesty” of his woman neighbour, to visit the house of the victim with a box of sweets and request her to tie a rakhi band on him with the promise to protect her always.

A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Ravindra Bhat pronounced the order disapproving the approach of the high court.

The bench also asked the judicial academy to develop a module for judges, lawyers, and public prosecutors on gender sensitisation.

The top court was ruling on a plea filed by a group of women lawyers led by advocate Aparna Bhat.

Attorney General for India, K K Venugopal, also expressed his displeasure at a Madya Pradesh High Court order.

“Orders in sexual assault cases asking the accused to get the victim to tie a ‘rakhi’ on him is drama,” Venugopal submitted before the Supreme Court while stressing the need to gender-sensitize and educate judges on the necessity of focusing on the facts, particularly when imposing bail conditions.

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