'Impermissible' to judge women by clothes: SC panel urges overhaul of language adopted in sexual offence cases

A Supreme Court-appointed expert committee headed by former judge Justice Aniruddha Bose recommended overhauling judicial language in sexual offence cases to eliminate stereotypes.

The committee's report, 'Judgments and Gender: Sensitivity and Compassion in Writing Judgments,' analyzed 125 trial court judgments and called for replacing terms like 'prosecutrix' and 'helpless woman' with neutral, survivor-centric language.

The panel said judicial language 'shapes justice' and urged courts to stop judging women by their clothes or drawing conclusions about their character.

The report follows a February 10 Supreme Court directive in a suo motu case after controversial Allahabad High Court observations.

The committee also recommended courtroom practices to prevent secondary victimisation of survivors.