Supreme Court quashes controversial Allahabad HC judgment, says loosening pyjama string is 'attempt to rape'

Supreme Court of India set aside a controversial Allahabad HC ruling

• Supreme Court restores attempt to rape charge in groping case
• Allahabad HC ruling reduced charges, sparking public outrage
• SC says actions were attempt to rape, not just preparation

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a contentious Allahabad High Court ruling, and said that groping a woman and untying her pyjama string constitutes an “attempt to rape” and not merely “preparation”.

The High Court’s March 17, 2025 verdict had sparked widespread outrage, prompting the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance after receiving a letter from NGO 'We the Women' through its founder-president and senior advocate Shobha Gupta.

A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria, set aside the High Court ruling and restored the original stringent charge of attempt to rape against the two accused under the Pocso Act.

The apex court set aside the HC order and said, "The facts alleged being so, we cannot agree with the finding of the high court that the allegations only amount to preparation, but not an attempt, towards the commission of the offence of rape.”

No judge or judgment of any court can be expected to do complete justice when it is inconsiderate towards the factual realities of a litigant and the vulnerabilities which they may be facing in approaching a court of law, it said.

The Allahabad High Court issued the ruling while hearing a plea by two men challenging a trial court order that had summoned them on rape charges. The accused groped an 11-year-old girl, snapped the string of her pyjamas and attempted to drag her beneath a culvert.

Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra held that grabbing a girl’s breasts would not amount to rape but would fall under assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe. The court consequently reduced the charges from rape under Section 376 of the IPC and attempted penetrative sexual assault under Section 18 of the Pocso Act to Section 354-B IPC (assault charges) and Sections 9/10 of the Pocso Act (aggravated sexual assault), which carry lesser punishment.