CJI on '79 rape ruling: 'Moment of institutional embarrassment' NEW DELHI: Admitting that Supreme Court failed its citizens, and it is the vigilance of civil society and courage of ordinary people which have kept the judiciary accountable over the years, the CJI termed SC's 1979 verdict as a "moment of institutional embarrassment" which acquitted two policemen accused of raping a young tribal girl inside a police station by taking her "consent" as voluntary because there were no visible marks of physical resistance. Delivering the 30th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture, CJI B R Gavai said the apex court's verdict in Tukaram v. State of Maharashtra, also known as the Mathura case, was an institutional failure, and court's verdict reflected a deeply regressive and patriarchal un

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