‘Will You Marry Her?’ CJI Bobde Says Media Misreported His Remark

During a hearing on Monday, the Chief Justice emphasised that the Supreme Court has the ‘highest respect for women’.

Chief Justice of India SA Bobde on Monday, 8 March, clarified that his questioning of a government employee if he would marry the woman who had accused him of repeatedly raping her, was “misreported” by the media. He further reiterated that the Supreme Court has the “highest respect for women”.

The Chief Justice’s clarification comes in the wake of the social media backlash over his comments on 1 March during the bail hearing of a 23-year-old man accused of raping a 16-year-old girl six years ago.

During the proceedings, he had asked the accused, “Will you marry her?”