The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognizance of a recent Patna High Court judgment concerning the ingredients of the offence of attempt to rape, after the High Court held that an alleged attempt to remove a woman’s salwar and pressing her chest did not, on the facts of the case, establish an attempt to commit rape.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana took up the matter and observed that certain observations contained in the Patna High Court judgment were of concern.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice indicated that the Supreme Court would examine the impugned findings after ensuring that the accused was heard. The Court also directed the Bihar authorities to ensure service of notice upon the concerned accused through the local police.
The proceedings arise from a July 9, 2026 judgment of the Patna High Court in which the Court examined the conviction of an accused under Sections 376 read with 511 of the Indian Penal Code. The case related to allegations that the accused had attempted to remove the victim’s salwar and had physically molested her by pressing her chest.
The Patna High Court held that the material on record did not establish an overt act sufficiently demonstrating an unequivocal intention to commit rape. In the absence of such evidence, the Court concluded that the ingredients of an attempt to rape were not made out.
The High Court accordingly interfered with the conviction recorded by the trial court under Sections 376/511 IPC. It held that the conduct attributed to the accused would, at the highest, attract the offence of assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty under Section 354 IPC.
The issue subsequently came before the Supreme Court during proceedings concerning an earlier Allahabad High Court judgment dealing with allegations of sexual assault against a minor. The Supreme Court had previously set aside that ruling and initiated broader proceedings concerning the manner in which courts should approach cases involving sexual offences.
During those proceedings, Senior Advocates Shobha Gupta and H.S. Phoolka drew the Supreme Court’s attention to the Patna High Court judgment, pointing out the similarity in the reasoning adopted in the two cases.
The Supreme Court had earlier expressed the need for judicial orders concerning sexual offences to be framed with due sensitivity and without reliance on stereotypical or patriarchal notions. The Court is now seized of the Patna High Court ruling as a separate suo motu proceeding.
The present proceedings will require the Supreme Court to examine whether the Patna High Court correctly applied the legal test governing an attempt to commit rape and whether the observations made in the judgment withstand scrutiny in light of the law governing sexual offences.
The case has been registered as In Re: Order Dated 09.07.2026 Passed By The High Court Of Judicature At Patna In Criminal Appeal (SJ) No. 775/2013 And Ancillary Issues.
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