Supreme Court Weekly Round Up - Judgments [October 31- November 5, 2022]

["Two-Finger" Test] The Supreme Court has said that the "Two-Finger test" perpetuates patriarchy by bolstering the misconceived notion that women who are habituated to sexual intercourse cannot be raped. "....the probative value of a woman’s testimony does not depend upon her sexual history. It is patriarchal and sexist to suggest that a woman cannot be believed when she states that she was raped, merely for the reason that she is sexually active,"
observed a division bench of the Supreme Court.
Bench: Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli
Case Title: The State of Jharkhand vs. Shailendra Kumar Rai @ Pandav Rai
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[PMLA] By handing over money with the intent of giving bribe, such person will be assisting or will knowingly be a party to an activity connected with the proceeds of crime, the Supreme Court has held while interpreting Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
"Without such active participation on part of the person concerned, the money would not assume the character of being proceeds of crime. The relevant expressions from Section 3 of the PML Act are thus wide enough to cover the role played by such person...", Court has added.
Bench: CJI UU Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi
Case Title: ED vs. Padmanabhan Kishore
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[POCSO Act] Non-reporting of sexual assault against a minor child despite knowledge is a serious crime, held the Supreme Court on Wednesday while further adding that such non-reporting is more often than not, done as an attempt to shield the offenders of the crime. Court made these observations while setting aside an order whereby the FIR and chargesheet filed against the accused medical practitioner were quashed.
Bench: Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar.
Case Title: The State of Maharashtra & Anr. vs. Dr. Maroti s/o Kashinath Pimpalkar
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[Anticipatory Bail] The Supreme Court recently addressed a serious misconception of law that if no case for custodial interrogation is made out by the prosecution, then that alone would be a good ground to grant anticipatory bail.
"There may be many cases in which the custodial interrogation of the accused may not be required, but that does not mean that the prima facie case against the accused should be ignored or overlooked and he should be granted anticipatory bail", Court said.
Bench: Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala
Case Title: X vs. ARUN KUMAR C.K & ANR.
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[Eyewitness]
The Supreme Court has recently held that merely because the original complainant is not examined cannot be a ground to discard the deposition of an eyewitness. Similarly, assuming that the recovery of the weapon used is not established or proved also cannot be a ground to acquit the accused when there is a direct evidence of the eye-witness, the Top court has held.
Bench: Justices MR Shah and Krishna Murari
Case Title: State through the Inspector of Police vs. Laly @ Manikandan & Another Etc.
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[Contempt of Court] After adjourning the matter several times for granting an opportunity to a Kenyan citizen of Indian origin held guilty of contempt in a custody battle, the Supreme Court gave its verdict on sentencing. The bench punished him for acts of deliberate and willful disobedience of the orders (civil contempt), for obstructing the administration of justice and lowering the authority of the Court (criminal contempt). Therefore, court sentenced him with imprisonment for 6 months each for civil and criminal contempt, and with a total fine of Rs. 25 lakh, which the wife would receive.
Bench: CJI U.U. Lalit and Justice P.S. Narsimha
Case Title: In re Perry Kansagra
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Supreme Court Weekly Round Up - Judgments [October 31- November 5, 2022]

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