NFIW Demands Removal of Allahabad HC’s Justice Mishra, Terms His Remarks as ‘Shocking’

The National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) has termed as ‘shocking” and condemned the order issues by Allahabad High Court Judge Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, who recently ruled in favour of two men from Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh, in a November 21 incident, saying that “grabbing the breast of a girl and breaking her pant string is not an attempt to rape, but an attempt to sexually molest.”

In a statement, NFIW has demanded immediate revocation of this “anti-women and anti-Constitutional judgment, as well as urgent removal of Justice Mishra. The women’s organisation said Justice Mishra “has demonstrated utter ignorance of existing legislations and has failed miserably to uphold the Constitutional principles of equality and justice to which he is duty bound by his position. By taking these urgent actions, a strong precedent needs to be set that we as a society will have zero tolerance for this dangerous practice of anti-women judgments, which have been increasing on a menacing scale.”

The case relates to November 2021, filed by the victim and her then 11-year-old daughter, who were approached by three village men – Pawan, Akash and Ashok, while walking on the road. One of the men, Pawan, offered to drop her daughter who had alleged that he grabbed her breasts, broke her pyjama strings, and dragged her under a culvert. The girl was rescued by some passers-by and a case was registered by the girl’s mother. Following this, the accused approached the Allahabad High Court for relief.

Justice Mishra in his order said this was not enough to charge him with ‘attempt to rape’, sparking widespread outrage and calls for the Supreme Court’s intervention. Even the Minister of Women and Child Welfare has condemned the judgement. NFIW said that in his interpretation of the incident, Justice Mishra, called it “preparation for the crime” and not “an actual attempt” and said that “we should understand the difference between the two.”

“By making such a false distinction, he has perpetuated the practice of belittling heinous acts of violence against women, and also violated Section 7 of the POCSO Act, under which “touching the sexual organs of a child or any act related to physical contact with sexual intentions will be considered sexual assault,’ said NFIW.

Terming the judgment as “nothing but a blatant rejection of the core tenets of the Constitution,” NFIW said it was also a “convoluted attempt to further institutionalise and legitimise the patriarchal ideology that thrives by reducing women to mere objects to be used and abused.”

This article was also published in NewsClick and can be read here.