Letter Petition To Hon' CJI
Letter Petition To Hon' CJI
Letter Petition To Hon' CJI
2020
To
SUB: Letter Petition by law students in the wake of the Hathraas Gang Rape case, seeking
intervention of this Hon'ble Court, for appropriate order/ direction for action to be taken against
guilty officials, and seeking orders/directions for framing guidelines for protocol to be followed by
Respected Sir,
In the past few days the citizens of India have seen a higher degree of brutality in crime
against women, which one thought could not be more gruesome after the 2012 Nirbhaya Rape
Case. Crime against women in India, is not only drawing the attention of the citizens of India, but
is being reported in newspapers all around the world. There are talks about fast track courts,
decreased rate of conviction and statistics of all kind are all over the news and the internet, but we
write to you as students of law who are so jolted and disheartened with the state of affairs in our
nation, that we find it imperative to write to the Highest Court of our nation for some relief.
It is a well-known fact that this Hon’ble Court shares the sentiment of the people at large
when it comes to crimes of this nature. The Supreme Court has repeatedly observed that rape is the
most heinous crime and in a judgement that was passed almost two decades ago, the Judges of this
Hon’ble Court have held that “Rape is not only a crime against the person of a woman (victim), it
is a crime against the entire society. It destroys the entire psychology of a woman and pushes her
into deep emotional crises. It is only by her sheer will power that she rehabilitates herself in the
society, which, on coming to know of the rape, looks down upon her in derision and contempt.
Rape is, therefore, the most hated crime. It is a crime against basic human rights and is also
violative of the victim’s most cherished of the fundamental rights, namely, the right to life with
human dignity contained in Art 21” [Bodhisattwa Gautam v. Subhra Chakraborty 1996 SCC (1)
490] and it is so unfortunate that such extracts are being reiterated year after year, in case after
case while the perpetration of the same crime just gets worse. It is apposite to mention here, that
the statistics, of each year show a drastic increase in the number of rape cases being reported and
that the conviction rate on the other hand, shows no improvement. The NCRB Data shows that
India has seen an increase in crime against women by 7.3% in 2019 with Uttar Pradesh being the
highest contributor to the registered cases of crime against women with 14.7% of the total cases in
India. One of the most unfortunate results of this data is that a girl getting raped has become so
common, that we only talk about it in a few selected cases when the nature of the crime is such
The most recent incident of such kind is the Hathras Rape Case which caused widespread
and immediate anger and disgust among the public because a 19 year old girl, in her dying
statement stated that she has been raped and the manner in which her body was treated after she
had been raped is nothing less than inhuman. Despite this, the police officials who are the
investigating wing of the justice system and protectors of our society and are responsible by law to
register, investigate and frame charges in cognizable cases are now the ones who are depriving the
victim and the family of the victim a chance to bid farewell, by burning the victim's body in the
middle of the night, in a field, alone with the family under illegal house arrest while restricting
other spectators such as the media and villagers to come near the place of burning.
This Hon’ble Court has also discussed and has observed in many of its decisions that even
in provisions where the Statue is specifically providing for an immunity, there must be a
reasonable connection between the act and police officer and simply abusing his/her duty and
acting outside the contours of his/her duty would not get the protection of the law. The Criminal
Law provisions prescribe rights, duties and responsibilities and procedures based on which the
investigating agency conducts itself and its acts, therefore, the police authority is liable for
questioning on their act on the night of 30th September, 2020, when they burned the victim's body
in the middle of a field by throwing petrol on her and then lighting it on fire which unarguably
took away her right to die with dignity as the acts of police officials are not justifiable
constitutionally and on the substantive provisions of law and these events pose a grave threat to the
Fundamental right of ‘Right to life with dignity’ which also includes the right to decent cremation
in accordance with culture and tradition of the person who is no more (vide Parmanand Katra,
Advocate v. Union of India (1995) 3 SCC 248). It is imperative to mention here, that the deceased
body of a convicted terrorist, Ajmal Kasab who took part in the horrors of 2008 Mumbai terrorist
attacks in Maharashtra, was also offered by the Government of India to the Government of
Pakistan on humanitarian grounds after he was hanged until death. It is another fact that no one
claimed the body and thus his body was buried in Yerawada Central Prison Pune, but the same
humanity was not extended to the Hathras incident victim and her family who’ve lived all their
lives in India and had lost their daughter to what is known as the most hated crime. There has been
much debate and discussion on what are the rights of a family on a dead body and whether the
family has exclusive rights on the body of the person? There is no guideline on this particular issue
yet.
The police allegedly states that they had sought the permission of the family members to
burn the victim’s body, although it is pertinent to note that the family members on multiple
accounts have stated that it was done against their will. The video to substantiate the family’s
claim is available all over the news and internet however there is no plausible document signifying
It is important to note that during these difficult and unprecedented times of a pandemic,
the Ministry of Health Affairs in their guidelines pertaining to the disposal of COVID-19 Positive
bodies have allowed the family members to have a last look at the body of the deceased. The
Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health affairs for disposal of dead bodies amid the Covid-19
crises. A bare glance of the Guidelines shows that even in these exceptional circumstances when
there is great threat/ apprehension of infection from the dead bodies and timely disposal is a must,
the Ministry in its guidelines has required that “the dead and the bereaved should be respected at
all times”. The guidelines issued by the “Guidelines for Safe disposal of dead bodies Annexure
2” issued by National Centre for Disease under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
Government of India states that “Undignified handling and disposal of dead bodies may further
traumatize relatives and should be avoided at all times. Careful and ethical management of dead
bodies, including disposal, should be ensured, including respect for religious and cultural
sensitivities.” and there is a detailed procedure mentioned regarding the handling of dead bodies.
Guidelines are needed to be framed for disposal of dead bodies in other cases in general in line and
terms of the above guidelines. The same should be made applicable to all authorities dealing with
such situations, be it police personnel or the hospitals. When the police is bound by above
mentioned guidelines to return the body and when even MHA has permitted to bid farewell to a
COVID -19 Positive body, the same shall certainly be followed in other circumstances as well.
The Hathras police has instilled a fear of authoritarianism in the hearts of us Law Students
and concerned citizens and the question that a lot of female law students are asking is whether the
police are taking up the role of completing the crime for the criminal and if it is required, whether
we can report a crime without questioning the intention and the result of reporting such a crime
It is respectfully submitted that the defence and the stance being taken by the police and
several other government officials is creating a situation of panic and distrust in the country. Acts
like the imposition of section 144 of the Indian Penal Code, stopping political leaders, people,
media and other villagers from visiting the family yet on 4th October’20 allowing a huge gathering
near the premises of the victim’s house to hold a meeting to discuss the rights of the accused ,
mannerism in which women’s clothes were being held who tried to visit the family sends clear
messages of suspicion to the public. The announcement made that there was no semen found in the
body of the victim therefore the charge of rape is ruled out - are obscure and are making things
worse. It is important to understand that the literacy rate in India is not 100% and such statements
by government officials not only mislead the people about what the law prescribes but is a blatant
The independence of the Judiciary from the Executive and the Legislature is a part of the
basic principles of the Constitution which ensures and empowers the Judiciary to pass appropriate
directions when one wing of the government falters and although the Allahabad High Court has
taken Suo Moto cognizance in this matter, we write to this Hon’ble Court because as the Highest
Court in our country, a statement, a direction or even an observation made by this Court holds a
higher value than any other subordinate Court and also because this Hon’ble Court has taken
action in matters of such gross violation of human and fundamental rights - few examples of the
same are the Unnao Rape Cae, Kathua Rape Case and the very recent Hyderabad Rape case where
It is imperative to bring to this Hon’ble Courts’ kind attention that apart from the Hathras
Case, there have been several rape cases being reported each day, though very few or rarely any
incident makes news in the Media. Inarguabely, each rape is condemnable and should be
completely unexceptable to a civilised society. We have to create an exceptional level of
intolerance in our society for this most heinous crime of rape and in this process the courts would
have to play an exceptional role. Instead, Rape - the most henious and hated crime - has become a
subject of daily reporting in newspapers and other media. Each and every day, in some
city/town/village in India, several rapes are happening. All statistics point out that a girl is raped
every 15 minutes in India and we as female law students, brothers, and as the future of the justice
system have no other place but this Hon’ble Court to share our fear and concern and seek redressal
and assurance.
PRAYER:
(a) direct an inquiry of the Uttar Pradesh Police, Hathras Police and Hathras District
(b) direct all state and U/T governments to utilise the unused funds present in the Nirbhaya Fund
(c) discuss or issue appropriate guidelines, as the court may deem fit, regarding the right of a
family on the dead body and the right to die with dignity.
(d) order the strict implementation of all the steps and initiatives are in force such as Fast track
Courts.
(e) take any other action that this Hon’ble Court deems fit to instill confidence in the general
public and revive the lost hope of each female in our country.
We the undersigned Law Students shall be ever grateful for the intervention of this Hon’ble
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
184. Garima Kaul School of law and Legal Studies, GGSIPU, New
Delhi
312. Ch. Tanay Singh Tanwar School of Law, GautamBudh Nagar University
387. Harsh Pratap Singh Nagar Campus Law Centre, Delhi University