Union Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi on Friday said she “completely disagreed” with Allahabad High Court’s ruling on what constituted rape or attempt to rape and urged the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter.

Her reaction came after the high court, in an order earlier this week, ruled that mere grabbing of breasts and snapping pyjama strings did not amount to rape or attempt to rape but fell under the ambit of assault or use of criminal force against any woman with the intent to disrobe or compel her to be naked.

“I am completely against this decision and the Supreme Court should take serious note of it. Such a ruling has no place in a civilised society,” Devi, said outside Parliament. She also expressed concern over the broader implications of the judgment, warning that it could send the wrong message to society. “Somewhere, this will have a negative impact on society and we will discuss this matter further,” she added. The case involved an 11-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj, who was assaulted by two accused, identified as Pawan and Akash, in 2021. The accused grabbed her breasts, snapped her pyjama strings and attempted to drag her under a culvert. The assailants fled when passersby intervened.

Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal also slammed the ruling as “shameful” and “absolutely wrong”. She questioned the message such a ruling sent to society, particularly regarding crimes against children. “This is deeply shameful and absolutely wrong. What message do they want to give to society? That a young girl can be subjected to such horrific acts and it still won’t be considered rape?” she told reporters outside Parliament.

Maliwal also urged the Supreme Court to immediately intervene and take strict action against such judicial interpretations. “The Supreme Court should intervene in this matter without delay, and strict action must be taken,” she said.

CPI general secretary D Raja has also slammed the judge’s remarks on sexual violence as “appalling”. “Grabbing breasts or snapping a pyjama string isn’t ‘attempt to rape’? This trivialises sexual violence and shows the tight grip of patriarchy on our institutions. The law must prioritise survivors’ trauma, not minimise it,” he said in a social media post on Thursday.

“People see the judiciary as the last hope and such conduct puts a question mark before the credibility of the judiciary. Shameful!” he added. Legal experts too deplored the observation of the Allahabad High Court on what constitutes a rape charge, calling for a restraint by judges and underlining the drop in public confidence in the judiciary due to such statements.

Senior advocate and Supreme Court Bar Association president Kapil Sibal took to social media saying, “God save this country with such judges adorning the Bench! The SC has been too soft in dealing with errant judges (sic).”

Sibal subsequently said judges, especially those from the high courts, should refrain from making such statements, as it would “send wrong message to the society and people will lose faith in the judiciary”.

Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa said the interpretation of the Allahabad High Court appeared to set a concerning precedent by narrowly defining what constitutes an attempt to rape.

He further said that at the summoning stage, courts typically assess whether there is a prima facie case based on the allegations, without delving deeply into the evaluation of evidence. Echoing his views, senior advocate PK Dubey said such an observation was not warranted.