Woman sends 150 contraceptives to Justice Pushpa Ganediwala

OVERVIEW

A woman from Ahmedabad, Gujarat sent a packet of contraceptives to Justice Pushpa Ganediwala as a symbol of protest against her controversial verdicts in sexual assault cases under the POCSO Act, 2012.

Devshri Trivedi, a self-proclaimed political analyst, stated she sent condoms to 12 different locations, including Justice Ganediwala’s chamber, the registry of Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court, and the principal seat in Mumbai.

BACKGROUND

Justice Ganediwala in the recent past has passed controversial judgements regarding the interpretation of ‘sexual assault’ under the POCSO Act, 2012.

On January 19, the judgement passed held that there ought to be ‘skin-to-skin contact with sexual intent’ for an act to be considered as sexual assault, observing that ‘mere groping’ does not qualify as sexual assault as per the definition.

Following the aforesaid incident, another verdict passed by the judge held that ‘act of holding hands and opening the zip of pants’ would not qualify as sexual assault under the said act, and instead comes within the ambit of ‘sexual harassment’ under sec. 354-A (1) (i) of the IPC.

The orders had received severe criticism among the citizens as well as the legal experts, resulting in the stay of order by CJI Bobde on the request of review by Attorney K.K. Venugopal.

A letter petition was also addressed to Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court requesting to disallow the impugned judge to be a part of the judicial system.

FURTHER DETAILS

Devshri Trivedi also uploaded videos on YouTube of her packing about 150 condoms in 12 packets on February 13, receiving appreciation as well as criticism.

“I cannot tolerate injustice. A minor girl did not get justice because of a judgement by Justice Ganediwala. I am demanding that she (Justice Ganediwala) be suspended.”
As reported by India Today, Trivedi had mailed the packets on February 9 and believes that she has not done anything wrong.

“Women have to stand up for their rights. By this order of Justice Ganediwala men can go scot-free for sexually assaulting girls over their clothes.”

The registry office of the Nagpur bench however stated that they did not receive any such packet. Senior Advocate Shrirang Bhandarkar of the Nagpur Bar Association demanded that action be taken against the act.

“This is a clear case of contempt. We demand that action should be taken against this woman.”

CONCLUSION

The verdicts passed by the judge had been stayed the Supreme Court, and its recommendation to appoint Justice Ganediwala as a permanent judge of the Bombay High Court was also withdrawn. However, such an act of contempt may not be received well by many in the judicial system either.

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION REGARDING THE ACT BY DEVSHRI TRIVEDI? DO YOU THINK IT IS A VALID ACT OF CRITICISM? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!