A woman named Devshri Trivedi has sent 150 condoms to Bombay High Court additional judge Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala as a mark of protest against her recent controversial verdicts in sexual assault cases under the POCSO Act.
Who is the Devshri Trivedi?
Devshri Trivedi hails from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and claims to be a political analyst. She also has a YouTube channel. Devshri said that she had sent condoms to 12 different locations, including Justice Ganediwala's chamber, the registry of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court and the principal seat in Mumbai.
Why did she send condoms?
The judge had in January ruled that groping a minor's breast without "skin to skin contact" does not constitute "sexual assault" under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Angered by the verdict, she had sent the packets on February 9 and few of the packages have been delivered. Meanwhile, the registry office of the Nagpur bench said they did not receive any packet of this nature. Senior advocate of the Nagpur Bar Association, Shrirang Bhandarkar stated this is a clear case of contempt. She also demanded that action should be taken against this woman.
However, Devshri says that she doesn’t feel she has done anything wrong and Women have to stand up for their rights. She also said that such injustice cannot be tolerated. Due to the decision of Justice Ganediwala, minor girls suffering from sexual exploitation will not get justice, she said. By this order of Justice Ganediwala, men can go scot-free for sexually assaulting girls over their clothes, Devshri added.
What was this controversial verdict?
Trivedi was referring to the January 19 verdict of Justice Ganediwala where she acquitted a man of sexual assault on the grounds that pressing the breasts of a child over her clothes without direct "skin to skin" physical contact does not constitute "sexual assault" under the POCSO Act.
In another ruling that invited criticism, Justice Ganediwala held that acts like "holding the hands of a minor" and the accused "opening the zip of pants" does not amount to sexual assault under POCSO Act.
Who is Justice Pushpa Ganediwala?
Justice Ganediwala was appointed as additional judge of the High Court in February 2019. Later, she was recommended to be made a permanent judge by the Supreme Court Collegium in January 2021. However, after the controversial judgments came to light, the Collegium withdrew its recommendation. Last week, the government extended the tenure of Justice Ganediwala as additional judge for one year.
Why was Recommendation Withdrawn?
According to reports, Justices DY Chandrachud and AM Khanwilkar – who are not part of the three-judge collegium but began their judicial careers in the Bombay High Court, reiterated their strong reservations against making Justice Ganediwala apermanent judge of the HC in closed-door conversations. Both these judges had objected to her appointment as an additional judge in the first place (in February 2019). However, due to this recent controversy, they were able to convince one of the members of the three-judge collegium to withdraw their consent to her permanent appointment.
What does POSCO act say?
According to the POCSO Act, sexual assault can be defined only when someone “with sexual intent touches the vagina, penis, anus or breast of the child or makes the child touch the vagina, penis, anus or breast of such person or any other person, or does any other act with sexual intent which involves physical contact without penetration is said to commit sexual assault”.
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