Reacting to the resolution passed against her by the Bar Council of India, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat said it was an attempt to intimidate her.
The Bar Council, in a resolution adopted during a meeting, had termed the letter written by Ms. Karat to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice S.A. Bobde on the remarks he had made on two rape cases as a “malicious attack” on the judiciary.
The resolution said that freedom of speech and expression cannot be stretched to the extent of “maligning and weakening” the institution.
Ms. Karat said in a letter that the resolution made petty and personal allegations against her, which she was choosing not to respond to. She pointed out that the CJI’s comments, which she said were widely reported, had not been contradicted by the council.
The council had pointed out that the comments were not part of the judgement and thus legally irrelevant. Ms. Karat said, “Whether or not the comments form part of the judgement is immaterial. The fact that such comments were made and reported have their own impact on society at large.”
In a recent case, the CJI had asked a man, accused of raping a minor girl, if he was willing to marry her. In another case, the Supreme Court stayed the arrest of a man accused of rape by his former partner, with the CJI commenting “however brutal the husband is... when two people (are) living as husband and wife... can sexual intercourse between them be called rape?”
Ms. Karat said that such comments have a damaging impact on the victim and also tend to dilute the enormity of a crime against a minor. “Comments may not have legal sanctity but certainly provide legitimacy to retrograde social approaches, which I have mentioned in my letter. In fact the Bar Council, if indeed it wanted to react, should have upheld the best judicial practices and standards and taken up the negative impact of such comments with the Court concerned,” Ms. Karat wrote.
She also said, “Rape is a coercive act of sexual intercourse without the woman’s consent. It is true that there is no law against marital rape at present in India. The petition is pending before the Courts. However, for the apex court to make comments such as ‘however brutal the husband is’ gives licence to brutality,” Ms. Karat stated.
