J&K High Court directs police, medical professionals to protect rape victims' identities

Srinagar, Mar 10: The Jammu & Kashmir High Court has ordered police, forensic laboratories, and medical professionals to ensure that the identities of rape and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) victims are not disclosed in official records.

The court emphasised that only the victim’s parentage should be recorded without mentioning their full name or address. A Bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Puneet Gupta issued these directions while hearing a criminal case (Fazil Saleem Bhat v. Union Territory Th. P/S Ram Munshi Bagh), Bar and Bench reported. The Court also directed its registry to immediately redact the name of the victim from specific pages in the case records, as well as any additional pages flagged by the prosecution.

“It is necessary for us to order that in cases under Section 376 of the IPC (rape) or POCSO-related offences, the authorities—including the police, forensic science laboratories, and doctors examining the victim—must ensure that the victim’s name is not disclosed and only the parentage is recorded,” the Court stated, as quoted by Bar and Bench.

The order came after the Court noticed that the victim’s name had been disclosed multiple times in the charge sheet and its translated copies. The Court referred to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Vipul Sexana & Others v. Union of India & Others (2019) and directed the Jammu & Kashmir administration to ensure that all investigating agencies are made aware of the guidelines laid down by the apex court.

The Court further instructed its registry to redact the victim’s name from both physical and digital case records. The matter is scheduled for its next hearing on March 17. Senior Advocate Faisal Qadri and Advocate Bhat Shafi represented the petitioner, while Advocate Rahella Khan appeared for the respondents.