Overview
- On Tuesday the Supreme Court approved a National Judicial Academy expert committee handbook and ordered it uploaded to the Supreme Court, all High Courts and district court websites and circulated to judicial academies and law faculties.
- The apex court directed state directorates of prosecution and police to instruct stations to follow the handbook when recording FIRs and framing charges to ensure consistent, victim‑sensitive language and processes.
- The Patna High Court on July 9–14 set aside a 2008 conviction for attempt to rape, holding that attempting to remove a woman's salwar and pressing her chest, without penetration or medical corroboration, at best amounted to outraging modesty under Section 354 IPC.
- The Supreme Court flagged that Patna order during its suo motu hearings arising from a controversial Allahabad HC ruling, criticised apparent lack of legal research in some judgments and said it will issue a reasoned order to scrutinize the High Court's observations.
- The new handbook seeks to reduce inconsistent verdicts by standardising wording and evidentiary approaches, which could change how police frame complaints, how prosecutors charge cases and how lower courts assess evidence in sexual‑offence trials.