Coming straight to the point, I am happy to note that in a major reform which is primarily directed towards fast-tracking rape trials, the Supreme Court has said that a rape victim should be taken directly to a Magistrate for recording her statements within 24 hours of the crime. Needless to add, if a rape victim is taken directly to a Magistrate for recording her statements within 24 hours of the crime, the veracity and truthfulness will be more and chances of concoction will diminish greatly. In addition, the affluent offenders will not be in a position to intimidate her in any manner to not give any statement if her statement is recorded soon after the crime is committed!

In its order in the last leg of April 2014 a bench of Supreme Court led by Justice Gyan Sudha Misra ( since retired ) held that there was no need to record a victim's statement first before the police and then again before a Magistrate. Under the law, a statement recorded by the police is inadmissible with no legal sanctity.

This new procedure, the court said, would put an end to repeated recording of the statements – the primary reason for delay of the trial. Very rightly said and I am sure that this is in the interest of rape victim as she will not be required to recall time and again all the harrowing experiences which she had to undergo! It is therefore a very landmark and welcome judgment which will benefit the rape victim the most and will ensure speedy justice for her by sending the rapists to their right place behind bars well in time and not after a long period!

It has to be appreciated that the bench of Supreme Court which delivered this landmark judgment minced no words in stating unequivocally We are perturbed and anguished to notice that although there are fast-track courts for disposal of such cases, we do not yet have a fast-track procedure for dealing with cases of rape and gangrape, with the result that such heinous offences are repeated incessantly all over the country, including in the metropolitan cities. Rightly said!

It also said If a victim's statement was recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, preferably by a woman magistrate, it would be treated as her deposition for the trial.

The bench expressed its optimism that recording rape victim's statement before Magistrate within 24 hours will immensely benefit in wrapping up the trial in time when it noted It can surely cut short and curtail the protracted trial if it is introduced at least for trial of rape cases... and thus offer a speedy remedy by way of a fast-track procedure. It further directed categorically If there is any delay exceeding 24 hours in taking the victim to the Magistrate, the investigating officer should record the reasons in the case diary and hand over a copy of the same to the Magistrate.

Not just stopping here, the bench further directed The investigating officer should record the date and time when he got to know about the offence and when he took the victim to the Magistrate. The victim should be medically examined before being taken to the Magistrate.

Also, it directed that:
Necessary instructions by the DGPs and police commissioners of all the states and union territories be also issued to all the police station in-charges, incorporating the directions issued by us. There was a pressing need to introduce further amendments in the CrPC.

Let me point out here that Additional Solicitor General Sidharth Luthra while appearing for the government, had referred to the latest provisions in the Criminal Law ( Amendments ) Act, 2013 while claiming that the new law had the potential to cut down on unnecessary delay in rape trials. The Apex Court, however, noted that these amendments were not adequate and sought the views of the law secretaries of all states and the law commissions before passing this order while hearing a rape case from Karnataka.

All said and done, we can safely infer from this latest landmark judgment that the Supreme Court has sought to fast-track rape trials and also has sought to check the police interference by getting the statement recorded directly to a Magistrate so that the role of police is further minimized as we have seen for ourselves as to how in many cases there is a lot of bungling in recording evidence by the police especially when the offender is affluent and has many connections!

Moreover, the rape victim is saved from the trouble of getting her statement recorded again and again and on the slightest of variation due to her not being in fit mental state is faced with a barrage of questions which further torments her and makes her feel totally drained in this entire process! So, I have no doubt in my mind that this is a landmark judgment which has to be welcomed with open arms and all the lower courts must implement this in totality as it is the rape victim who will benefit the most in this entire process!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi, A 82, Defence Enclave, Sardhana Road,
Kankerkhera, Meerut - 250001, UP