The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea seeking guidelines to prevent the premature disclosure of the identity of the accused in sexual offence cases.

At present, no law bars the publication or disclosure of the identity of the accused. The protection is now offered to the victims of sexual crimes.

A bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and Bhushan Gavai sought the response of the government on two separate petitions filed by an advocate, Reepak Kansal and an NGO, the Youth Bar Association.

Under Section 228-A of the Indian Penal Code, disclosing the identity of rape victim or any sexual offence is punishable with imprisonment of up to two years and a fine.

The two petitioners have contended that there have been cases where innocent persons have been falsely implicated and their image badly damaged in the media and other public platforms.

There have been cases where such people have either committed suicide or attempted to end their lives, the petition by the NGO said.

“False accusation sometimes destroys the entire life of an innocent person and there have been instances where the person who has been falsely implicated have committed suicide,” the NGO said.

The premature disclosure of the identity of the accused before investigation and trial are completed goes against the well-settled principle of criminal jurisprudence that a person is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law, the petition added.

The NGO urged the apex court to formulate guidelines to prevent disclosure of the identity of accused persons on the lines of the Visakha guidelines relating to prevention of sexual harassment at work places until Parliament enacts a law to provide protection to the accused.

The petition said: “It is high time that certain guidelines may also be formulated to protect the integrity of the person/s alleged to have committed such crime and certain directions may also be issued to the media (print, electronic as well as social media) to not to disclose the identity of such person/s until and unless such crime is investigated by the competent agency.

“It is well-settled that a person is presumed to be innocent until he is proven to be guilty, but so much so, nowadays the moment an allegation of such nature is levelled and it is published in the media, the person loses his integrity in the society, without undergoing the process of investigation which is a sheer violation of Article 21 (personal liberty) of the Constitution of India.”

The petition added: “Besides, that person suffers loss of his hard-earned repute, image and goodwill in the society, which cannot be compensated in any manner whatsoever.”