Heavily criticising the police for failing to protect the dignity of the survivor in the Anna University sexual assault case, the Madras High Court ordered the Tamil Nadu government to pay an interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh for lapses from the police. In an order on Saturday, December 28, a bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and V Lakshminarayanan also rubbished the First Information Report (FIR), which it said shames the survivor, and directed an all-women IPS officers’ Special Investigation Team (SIT) to take over the investigation. The court further directed the Tamil Nadu government to initiate action against the Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police, A Arun.
The HC took particular note of the FIR, which it said blamed the 19-year-old survivor for the sexual assault, depriving her right to dignity and bodily autonomy. “The deplorable language of the FIR paves the way for victim blaming. It is shocking. The FIR reads as if women are to be blamed for the offences committed against them just because of how they dress,” Justice Lakshminarayanan said.
Citing that the state must protect survivors, the HC heavily criticised the police for uploading the FIR online. Justice Subramaniam asked why the police did not assist the survivor in drafting a properly worded FIR that would stand the test of trial.
Asserting that it is high time the society positions itself in the shoes of the woman, the court further said, “Do only men have wishes here? Why can’t a woman wish to fall in love without societal judgements? Why can’t a woman wish to walk by herself alone at night without fear? Why can’t a woman wish to talk to her male friends and colleagues freely without being judged? Why can’t a woman wish to dress up the way she wants without being shamed? Nobody in this free country has any right to dictate a woman as to how she should live her life. It is always her life. Her body. Her choice.”
Advocate General (AG) PS Raman, representing the state, argued that the FIR leak was a technical glitch that happened due to the recent transition from the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), and that the police had no control over it. Justice Lakshminarayanan, however, pointed out that the BNS came into effect on July 1, 2024, and asked how many FIRs related to offences against women and children were leaked in the last five months due to this technical glitch.
The HC also dismissed the AG’s stand that the media should not have published the leaked FIR, citing that the court cannot prevent press freedom. “They also publish good news about the police. Do you object to that?” asked Justice Subramaniam.
The bench further reprimanded the police for sharing sensitive details of the case to the press, questioning whether the Commissioner addresses the media for every other criminal case like he did in the Anna University case.
The AG argued that the press conference was meant to tell the students that the police were not shielding anybody, and cited a National Crime Records Bureau survey which listed Chennai and Coimbatore as the safest cities in the country to prove that the police have never committed lapses in such cases. Justice Subramaniam, however, dismissed this claim and said the safety was because people residing in these cities were by and large good, and that the police cannot take credit for this.
Noting that “vital information regarding the scene of crime” were disclosed through the press conference to the media, the court said that it “undoubtedly would cause prejudice to further investigation and hamper” the probe.
“The Investigating Officer, subordinate to the Commissioner of Police, may not be in a position to conduct further investigation in a free and fair manner. Thus, change of investigation from the subordinate officials of the Commissioner of Police, Chennai becomes inevitable,” the court said, directing a new SIT to take on the probe.
The SIT comprises Bhukya Sneha Priya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Anna Nagar; Ayman Jamal, DCP (Law and Order), Avadi; and S Brinda, DCP, Salem City (North).
The case relates to an incident on the night of December 23, when a man named Gnanasekaran sexually assaulted a student on campus. According to the First Information Report (FIR), the accused filmed the student and her male friend together inside the Anna University campus, and threatened to leak the footage to the dean and the couple’s parents if they did not obey his orders.
On the same day, the woman and a professor from the university’s Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) team filed a police complaint, leading to the registration of an FIR. The accused was arrested the next day.