To ensure anonymity and confidentiality of survivors of sexual offences throughout the legal proceedings, the name, parentage, address, social media credentials and photographs of the victim or survivor will be redacted in the filings made in court.
The guidelines, which will be followed in all courts across the Capital, came as part of a fresh ‘Practice Directions’ issued by the Delhi High Court on October 4. A ‘Practice Direction’ is an administrative directive or guidance issued by courts to provide specific procedural instructions related to the conduct of legal proceedings.
While disclosure of the identity of the victim of rape, is punishable with imprisonment of a term that may extend to two years and a fine under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code, in the recent past there have been cases where the identity of the victim was inadvertently revealed. In April 2018, the Delhi High Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the publication of photographs and the name of the Kathua rape victim by some media houses.
In the fresh ‘Practice Direction’, the high court ordered it Registry to be careful while scrutinising all filings relating to sexual offences, to ensure that the anonymity and confidentiality of the victim or survivor are strictly maintained.
Even the name, parentage and address of family members of the victim or survivor, through whom she could be identified, must not be disclosed in the court filings, the high court added.
The high court also added that it is the duty of the concerned local court to redact the identifying particulars of the victim or survivor from the FIR, chargesheet, which comes for trial before it.
