Supreme Court orders audit of Delhi public spaces over safety failures following recent sexual assaults

Key facts

• The Supreme Court, taking suo motu cognisance of recent sexual offences in Delhi-NCR, pulled up the Delhi government and police for a 'systemic failure' to guarantee basic public safety and ordered the Commissioner of Police to audit public spaces like parks, roads, buses, metro stations, subways and footbridges so that they do not become 'zones of high risk'.
• The audit is to be conducted through dedicated teams in every police district, headed by officers not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police, to inspect vulnerable locations for gaps in lighting, surveillance, patrolling and access control, with the report due to the Supreme Court by October 5.
• A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran took note of three recent sexual assaults on minors, including the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old at Aastha Kunj Park near LSR College, and drew parallels to the 2012 Nirbhaya case.
• The court appointed senior advocate Liz Mathew as amicus curiae and sought a status report on the use of the National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO), the Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) and programmes under Mission Shakti by the police over the past five years.
• The court also issued notice to the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court on the functioning of Fast Track Special Courts and Exclusive POCSO Courts in Delhi, and asked for steps to ensure trials are concluded expeditiously, preferably within one year.