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“Pass in IAS exam no ground for commuting rape sentence”

NEW DELHI: Women’s groups and activists on Thursday submitted an “open petition” to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court demanding review of a Division Bench judgment reducing the life sentence for a rape convict after he passed the Civil Services examination.

If it is not reviewed, a special leave petition will be filed in the Supreme Court, said the signatories, numbering over 100. The judgment set an extremely retrograde and wrong precedent, the women’s groups said registering their protest.

Ashok Rai was convicted and sentenced to life after a student of his charged him with rape and committed suicide. Earlier this month, the court reduced his sentence to five-and-half years — the term he had already served — on the reason that he “redeemed himself” by passing the IAS examination.

The accused “merely qualifying for the IAS cannot be a ground for reduction of sentence in a crime as heinous as rape. This is clear from the fact that cases of rape have been known to be committed by ‘qualified’ as well as ‘unqualified’ persons. The stated reason is in fact indicative of a class bias towards educated persons and reveals a patriarchal bias as it undermines the seriousness of the offence,” the petition said. How could such a person be entrusted with ensuring the safety of women and implementation of the laws of the land?

The signatories include the All-India Democratic Women’s Association, the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, the Guild of Services, the Joint Women’s Programme, the National Federation of Indian Women, the Young Women’s Christian Association, Vina Mazumdar, Romila Thapar, Upendra Baxi, Zoya Hasan, and other eminent social activists and representatives of civil society groups.

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