Alleged rape at Saket: ACJ Gita Mittal convenes meeting of Delhi HC, district judges

In the wake of the alleged incident of rape at Saket district court, Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal today called for a meeting of High Court and district court judges..As reported earlier, a woman lawyer had filed a police complaint stating that the accused, advocate PK Lal, was in an inebriated condition when he sexually assaulted her in his chamber in Delhi’s Saket District Court complex..In reaction to the alleged incident, ACJ Mittal called for a meeting of the Administrative Committee of the Delhi High Court as well as district and sessions judges and the Registrar General and Registrar (Vigilance) of the High Court..District judges of the Saket court Asha Menon and Girish Kathpalia briefed the High Court on the present situation, in a meeting held at 9 AM this morning. The High Court was informed that the statement of the victim under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been recorded and that the accused has been arrested..The Court then issued directions to judges of the district courts to improve the safety of women in all courts..Similar directions were recently made by the Supreme Court, in accordance with the Visakha guidelines for sexual harassment at the workplace. This, after the Court, heard a complaint made by lawyer Afshan Pracha who alleged that she was assaulted by her male colleagues in the premises of Delhi’s Tis Hazari Court in May this year.