Anna University sexual assault: SC stays HC order on adverse remarks against police

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma also stayed, until further orders, the High Court's directive to conduct a departmental inquiry into the FIR leak.

The court stayed the portions of the High Court order, including paragraphs 20, 21, 23, and 29(9), where lapses by the police were noted. In paragraph 29(9), the High Court had directed the state and the Home Secretary to initiate a departmental inquiry against officials responsible for lapses, negligence, and dereliction of duty under relevant service rules.

The Supreme Court also issued a notice on Tamil Nadu's plea seeking to expunge the adverse remarks made by the High Court concerning police lapses.

The bench clarified that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed for the case would continue its investigation.

During the hearing, senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Luthra, representing the state government, argued that the leak of the FIR and survivor's details was due to a "technical glitch" in the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), managed by the Centre.

Rohatgi explained that the FIR was inadvertently exposed due to the migration from the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. He further noted that the state and police were not opposing the High Court's decision to constitute an all-women SIT for the case.

The High Court had earlier criticised the Commissioner of Police for holding a press conference on the case without prior government sanction, stating that such an event should have been avoided. It also described the FIR leak as a serious lapse by the police, which caused trauma to the victim and her family.

Additionally, the High Court criticised the insensitive wording of the FIR, which it said encouraged victim-blaming.

The alleged sexual assault of a second-year engineering student occurred inside the Anna University campus in Chennai on December 24, 2024. (ANI)