The recent controversial judgements at the Bombay High Court against those who had been accused of committing sexual abuse under the POCSO Act has cost Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala a permanent position. She has been serving as an additional judge of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court thus far. A recommendation had earlier been put in place for the same by the Supreme Court, and has now been withdrawn.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde wrote to the government, seeking the withdrawal of the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation to appoint Justice P.V. Ganediwala, an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court, as Permanent Judge, following her controversial verdicts in two sexual assault cases.
According to the Times of India, Justices DY Chandrachud and AM Khanwilkar – who are not part of the three-judge collegium of the Supreme Court, but began their judicial careers in the Bombay High Court – “reiterated their strong reservations against making Justice Ganediwala a permanent judge of the HC in closed-door conversations.”
She had recently been the favourite child of controversy, after issuing troublesome rulings. On January 14, she had reversed a conviction order after noting that there was nothing supporting the prosecution’s case for rape (Jageshwar Wasudeo Kawle v. the State of Maharashtra). On January 15, she held that holding hands of a minor and unzipping one’s pants by the accused at the same time by the accused does not amount to sexual assault as defined under Section 7 of the POCSO Act (Libnus v. the State of Maharashtra). A third judgment was delivered on January 19, in which she ruled that the act of pressing the breast of a child aged 12 years without removing her top does not fall within the definition of ‘sexual assault’ under Section 7 of POCSO (Satish Ragde v. the State of Maharashtra). These caused quite an uproar, costing her a permanent position on the Bench.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.