Supreme Court raps Calcutta HC judgment on adolescent girls, says judges not expected to preach

A view of the Calcutta High Court in Kolkata

The Supreme Court on Friday strongly criticised a Calcutta High Court judgment which advised young girls to "control sexual urges", saying the observations are highly objectionable and unwarranted.

A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal said the observations are completely in violation of the rights of adolescents under Article 21 of the Constitution.

"Prima facie, we are of the view that the judges are not expected to express personal views or preach," the bench said while issuing notice to the West Bengal government and other parties in the case.

The top court appointed senior advocate Madhavi Divan as amicus curiae to assist the court and advocate Liz Mathew to assist the amicus.

The apex court took note of the October 18, 2023, judgment of the Calcutta High Court, which observed that adolescent girls should control sexual urges and not give in to “two minutes of pleasure”.