Treat rape convicts with 145;heavy hand146;: SC

Today8217;s ruling came a day after another apex court Bench comprising Justices G P Mathur and G S Sinhvi ruled that 8220;whether the rape has occurred or not is a legal conclusion, not a medical one8221;. Hearing a case related to the rape of a minor, the Bench held that 8220;it is quite possible to commit the offence of rape without producing any injury to the genitals or leaving any seminal status.8221;

The Bench today set aside the judgement of a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge who reduced the seven-year imprisonment of a rape convict to two months and three days which he had already undergone after his arrest.

Criticising this attitude, the apex court said the High Court judge had committed a grave 8220;miscarriage of justice8221;.