Kerala High Court
Xxx vs State Of Kerala on 20 May, 2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN
Friday, the 20th day of May 2022 / 30th Vaisakha, 1944
WP(C) NO. 22276 OF 2021
PETITIONER:
XXX X
RESPONDENT:
1. STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY ADDITIONAL CHIEF SECRETARY, HOME
DEPARTMENT, SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.
2. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, ABDUL
KALAM MARG, MARINE DRIVE, ERNAKULAM - 682011.
3. ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER POLICE
OFFICE, THRIKKAKARA, KAKKANAD, ERNAKULAM - 6820221.
4. STATION HOUSE OFFICER, THRIKKAKARA POLICE STATION, THRIKKAKARA,
EDAPPALLY, ERNAKULAM - 682030.
5. GIREESH, CIVIL POLICE OFFICER, THRIKKAKKARA POLICE STATION,
THRIKKAKARA, EDAPPALLY, ERNAKULAM - 682030.
6. YYY YYY
Writ petition (civil) praying inter alia that in the circumstances
stated in the affidavit filed along with the WP(C) the High Court be
pleased to to direct the 4th respondent and his police men not to harass
the petitioner and further to direct the 2nd respondent to give adequate
police protection to the petitioner, during the pendency of this Writ
Petition.
This petition coming on for orders upon perusing the petition and
the affidavit filed in support of WP(C) and this court's order
dated 04.02.2022 and upon hearing the arguments of M/S.C.DHEERAJ RAJAN &
ANAND KALYANAKRISHNAN, Advocates for the petitioner, GOVERNMENT PLEADER
for R1 to R4 and of M/S R.RENJITH & M.T.SURESHKUMAR Advocates for R6, the
court passed the following:
DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN, J.
================================
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
================================
Dated this the 20th day of May, 2022
ORDER
As I have indited in the earlier orders, the primary objective
of keeping this matter pending is to have certain general
guidelines formulated, so that the victims of sexual offenses and
child abuses - be that a man, women or a child - is able to live life
with dignity, without being re-traumatised, subsequent to the
horrendous event.
2. Though I do not propose to speak in detail about the
various facets of the psychological distress of a victim of sexual
abuse and such other at this time - which I will do in the
judgment, it will be suffice to say that unless he/she is saved from
further trauma on account of the investigative and litigative
processes, the trust of the citizens on the system would fail.
3. With the afore in mind, I had earlier suggested that the
State think about introducing a 'Toll Free Number' into which a
victim can call in strict confidentiality, so that a First Information
Statement (FIS) or a First Information Report (FIR) can be
registered in terms of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C). It
was also suggested by this Court that, either on the obtention of
the information from the victim or on the registration of the FIR,
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
as the case may be, a Victim Liaison Officer be immediately
assigned, who will literally act as his/her next friend and advice
him/her as to the future course, without being subjected to any
harassment in the processes.
4. I must say with great pleasure that on the exhortation of
this Court, the Bar rose to the occasion and the learned Senior
Counsel Smt.V.P.Seemanthini, and Smt.Parvathy Menon - learned
counsel - both involved with the Victims Rights Centre (VRC), an
initiative of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) -
voluntarily appeared and made submissions, which has been of
great assistance to this Court.
5. Adv.Smt.Sandhya Raju, representing the Centre for
Constitutional Rights and Sri.Dheeraj Rajan, learned counsel for the
petitioner, also provided incisive inputs, which impelled a
meaningful debate and discussion at the Bar every time this matter
was taken up.
6. Smt.Parvathy Menon, learned counsel, has filed interim
reports and statements before this Court, wherein, she has provided
detailed information regarding the 'One Stop Crisis Centres' - which
is a programme of the Government of India, executed by the
Government of Kerala and which is operating in every District. She
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
submitted that if the said Centres along with the 'VRC' is offered a
role in the case of victims who require assistance, it would be a
paradigm shift in the manner in which the system works because
then it would become properly accounted. She illustratively
submitted, without going into the details, that in the case of a victim
who found it difficult to get an adequate response from the Police
Authorities, the intervention of the 'VRC' made sure that all
measures and steps under the Cr.P.C were initiated without any
delay thereafter.
7. Sri.Dheeraj Rajan, learned counsel for the petitioner, has
filed detailed Argument Notes, in which he has also made certain
suggestions. He urged that immediate and urgent intervention is
required because, on account of the inherent mistrust of victims in
the present policing system - which may or may not be justified -
very many times they are reluctant to invoke their legitimate
remedies.
8. Smt.Sandhya Raju made submissions with respect to the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and in
particular child victims, and tried to impress upon this Court the
deplorable pressure some of them face while they are dragged into
the process of litigation for no fault of theirs.
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
9. I have recorded the afore in brief because, as I have
already said above, the intent of this Court is to ensure an effective
systemic response to a victim who is already severely traumatized.
10. As regards the requirement of a Toll Free Number is
concerned, Smt.Parvathy Menon today made a submission that the
Government of Kerala has established a victim 'Emergency
Response Support System' (ERSS) exclusively for victims of sexual
abuse and child abuse as '112' and therefore, that the suggestion of
this Court for such a number has already been taken care of. She,
however, expressed doubt as to whether the processes within this
number are effective and therefore, left it to this Court to make
further provisions.
11. The learned Special Government Pleader - Smt.Ambika
Devi, was in full support of the suggestions of this Court, but sought
time to obtain specific responses to various queries made by me at
the Bar. She offered that she will come back to this Court with full
details on such issues by the next posting date.
12. I must upfront remind everyone that even though this
matter commenced on the complaint of the petitioner against
certain police officers, its scope has now been widened, fortified by
the various inputs chronicled above.
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
13. The imperative requirement for the victim of child abuse
or sexual abuse being secured and protected at every stage can
never be overstated and unless the systems that we have put in
place act proactively and sensitively, everything on paper will
remain as such - on paper.
14. There are at least two circulars issued by the State Police
Chief - one of the year 2012 and the other of the year 2017 -
wherein, the concept of a Victim Liaison Officer has been explained
in detail. If everything stated in these circulars are actualised,
certainly, many of the aspects I have endeavoured to address in this
proceedings would stand answered already.
15. Alas, practically, it has been far from this.
16. I am also aware that there is a further circular dated
13.11.2020 issued by the State Police Chief, relating to the
mandatory action by the Police in cases of crime against women.
The various enumerated measures therein are certainly laudable,
but again one fails to gather whether this has really been effectively
implemented.
17. The growing number of cases of hapless victims being
driven to stages of despondency, often reported in the Press, bear
great testimony to the afore suspicion.
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
18. To come back to the focal issue, it is only if a victim of
sexual violence or child abuse is able to confidently call upon the
system for redressal, with strict confidentiality and assurance of
preservation of his/her dignity, will the first step in the process be
ever satisfactorily commenced.
19. For this purpose, surely, the presence of a Toll Free
Number would go a long way and if an information received by the
said response system triggers certain specified consequential
actions, without the victim having to run behind it, certainly the
endevour of this Court will bear some fruit.
20. In the afore perspective, I direct the Government to
consider whether the following steps, which have been gathered
from the discussions at the Bar, as well as from the various
materials on record, can be effectively implemented, so that this
Court can then deliver judgment finally:
a) The Government must take steps to publicize the Toll Free
Number '112' as an Emergency Response Support System, to be
known to every citizen, so that a victim of a child abuse or a sexual
violence can access it as and when required.
b) On any information reaching the Toll Free Number, or the
Number '100' - which is the Police Control Room number, it must be
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
fed into a digital system, or Register which will then be relayed as
fast as possible to the jurisdictional Police Station or the nearest
Control Room.
c) The call made to the aforementioned Toll Free Number of
'112' will be attended by well sensitised and trained personnel, who
will also make sure that the victim is given sufficient support, as is
required, from the time when the call is made.
d) On the information of a sexual violence or child abuse being
received by the Police Control Room or the jurisdictional Police
Station as afore, immediate steps will be taken, if possible, within
an hour or so, to contact the victim either personally or through
phone, without however, summoning him/her to the Police Station
in any manner whatsoever.
e) The competent officer will thereupon record the statement
of the victim appositely, thus leading to registration of FIR under
Section 154(1) of the Cr.PC.
f) While taking the statement of the victim, the mandatory
proviso to Section 157(1) of the Cr.PC, namely that the same be
recorded at his/her residence or in the place of his/her choice and as
far as practical by a Police Officer in the presence of his/her
parents/guardian/near relatives or social worker, shall be
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
scrupulously complied with.
g) On the FIR being so registered and not later than 24 hours
thereafter, the Investigating Officer must assign a Victim Liaison
Officer in terms of the aforementioned circulars, who shall then
contact the victim immediately thereafter, so that he/she will feel
safe and protected, knowing of such support.
h) This Court also suggests that simultaneous to the
registration of the FIR, or at the time when the Victim Liaison
Officer is assigned, the Investigating Officer will disclose to the
victim the numbers of the 'One Stop Crisis Centre' and that of the
'VRC', so that they can then step in and ensure that the victim goes
through no further traumatization and is offered the psychological
support and succour which is sine qua non for the reparatory
process of the victims' psychological trauma.
i) The victim shall have constant access to the Victim Liaison
Officer and/or to the 'One Stop Crisis Centre/VRC', as the case may
be and the Government shall ensure that such access is available 24
hours a day and at any time the victim requires such during his/her
difficult times.
j) The 'One Stop Crisis Centre/VRC' will offer not merely
psychological assistance, but also legal support as may be required
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
to the victim and will work in promoting his/her return to normal
life, through every facilitation as may be necessary. This shall
continue as long as the victim requires or at least until such time as
the Trial is completed.
The afore are only preliminary suggestions of this Court, which
I leave it to be considered and fine tuned by the Government, so
that their response can then lead me to deliver final judgment.
I am offering this opportunity to the Government because,
whatever be the orders that this Court may eventually issue, it will
be the system which will have to rise up to the occasion and I
therefore, recognise that their inputs in this matter is also very
relevant.
Civilized societies are built on empowerment of citizens -
women and children being the most important. It is only if the
constitutionally protected requisites of safety and dignity are
ensured to the hapless victims of sexual and child abuse, can one
ever hope India to achieve the status of being a premier democracy
in the world. I am certain that the Government is also well aware of
this and that it is for them to make sure that all the various
initiatives - which have already been taken - or to be taken, are
effectively implemented in this direction.
W.P. (C)No.22276 of 2021
I leave it at this now to await the response of the Government
in this regard, which they shall do by the next posting date.
I hope that the Press will publicise the Toll Free Number '112'
effectively since they are one of the pillars of democracy and
because such information requires to be mandatorily made known
to all citizen. For this purpose, I direct the Registry to release a copy
of this order to the Press/Media.
Post on 08.06.2022 at 01.45 P.M.
Sd/-
DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN
rp JUDGE
20-05-2022 /True Copy/ Assistant Registrar
