New Delhi, September 28 (TNA) The Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance of recent rape and sexual assault cases reported across the Delhi-National Capital Region, including the alleged sexual assault of a minor inside a moving sleeper bus.
A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran expressed concern over the recurrence of sexual offences in the region and said the incidents pointed to a serious failure of law enforcement. The Court observed that the circumstances inevitably drew “painful parallels” with the 2012 Nirbhaya case.
The Bench said public spaces-including parks, roads, buses, metro stations, subways and footbridges-could not be allowed to become “zones of high risk” because of inadequate lighting, poor surveillance, insufficient patrolling or other preventable administrative failures.
The Court stressed that expressions of concern and solidarity by public authorities were not enough. It called for a measurable response and said accountability must be fixed on officials responsible for preventing crime, maintaining public order and protecting vulnerable people.
The Bench directed the Supreme Court Registry to register a suo motu case and list the matter for hearing. The proceedings will examine the reported incidents as well as wider systemic deficiencies in public safety and law enforcement across the Delhi-NCR region.