Delhi HC rejects plea for quashing rape case to prevent survivor from ‘facing stigma’

The Delhi High Court has termed as “obnoxious” the submission of a rape accused that quashing the proceedings against him would be in the “interest of the minor survivor” who otherwise would have to face “stigma”.

“The stigma has to be, not on the victim of the wrong, but on the perpetrator of the wrong. There has to be paradigm shift in societal mindset by attaching stigma to the accused and not to the girl who underwent the horrid suffering by way of rape,” Justice Girish Kathpalia said in a judgment passed on August 29.

“The counsel for the petitioner contends that quashing the present proceedings would be in the interest of the prosecutrix, otherwise she would have to face stigma. I find this argument obnoxious, to say the least,” said Justice Kathpalia.

The court not only refused to quash rape proceedings against the man but also directed him to deposit Rs 10,000 costs with the Delhi High Court Legal Service Committee.

It also rejected the contention of the counsel for the accused that the parents of the victim have “settled” the matter with him.

“This argument also is completely devoid of merit. For, it is the minor girl, and not her parents who was wronged and suffered because of the alleged act on the part of the petitioner (accused),” the court said.

“It is only the prosecutrix, who could have pardoned the wrongdoer, that too in certain specific conditions. As mentioned above, prosecutrix continues to be a minor girl,” Justice Kathpalia said.

According to a FIR lodged in 2024, the accused recorded a video of the minor and used it to blackmail her for physical relations. A case of rape was registered against the man under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).