Two days after it was cleared by the union cabinet, an ordinance on sexual violence against women under which rape that leads to death of the victim can now attract death penalty was on Sunday promulgated by President Pranab Mukherjee.
‘The President of India has accorded his assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 on Sunday,’ an official release said. A Home Ministry spokesperson also said the ordinance was approved by the President.
The union cabinet on Friday recommended the draft of the ordinance to the President for his assent in a bid to fast-track stringent amendments to the criminal laws to check crime against women. The ordinance came less than three weeks before the start of the Budget Session of Parliament.
The ordinance, based on the recommendations of the Justice J S Verma Committee and going beyond, also proposes to replace the word ‘rape’ with ‘sexual assault’ to expand the definition of all types sexual crimes against women.
The ordinance has evoked a mixed response with opposition BJP welcoming it but CPI(M) and several women’s groups opposed it, attacking the government for doing ‘injustice’ to Verma Committee recommendations.
Being brought against the backdrop of the gangrape and brutal assault of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi in December that shook the country, the ordinance entails changes in the criminal law by amending Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Evidence Act.
It also proposes enhanced punishment for other crimes against women like stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks, indecent gestures like words and inappropriate touch and brings into its ambit ‘marital rape’.
The union cabinet at the specially-convened meeting went beyond the Verma committee’s recommendation by providing for capital punishment in the cases where rape leads to death of the victim or leaves her in ‘persistent vegetative state’.
In such cases, the minimum punishment will be 20 years in jail which can be extended to the natural life of the convict or death, sources said, adding discretion will be with the court.
SPEEDY JUSTICE IS A RIGHT: SC
Frowning upon routine adjournments, the Supreme Court has said that speedy disposal of cases was the ‘primary morality of justice and ethical fulcrum of the judiciary’. ‘The foundation of justice, apart from other things, rests on the speedy delineation of the list (of cases) pending in courts,’ said the apex court bench of judges K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra in a recent verdict.
‘It would not be an exaggeration to state that (speedy justice) is the primary morality of justice and ethical fulcrum of the judiciary,’ the two judges said.
‘Its profundity lies in not allowing anything to cripple the same or to do any act which would freeze it or make it suffer from impotency,’ Justice Misra said, speaking for the bench.
Holding that the ‘virtues of adjudication cannot be allowed to be paralyzed by adjournments and non-demonstration of due diligence to deal with the matter’, he said: ‘One cannot be oblivious to the feeling necessities of the time.
‘It is devastating to expect infinite patience. Change of attitude is the warrant and command of the day.’
The court said this while taking note of 10 years taken by the Rajasthan High Court in deciding whether an appeal in a civil matter pertaining to a piece of land involved a substantial question of law. The case was instituted in 1990.
ORDINANCE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ISSUED EARLIER, SAYS BJP
The BJP said that the promulgation of ordinance for stricter punishment for sexual crimes against women was a belated move by the government to address concerns of people on the issue and should have been brought earlier. Party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that the BJP supports moves towards strict laws to deter crimes against women but the govt should have acted earlier.
ONLY 16,000 CONVICTED FROM 68,000 RAPE CASES IN 2009-11
Nearly 68,000 rape cases were registered across the country during 2009-11 but only 16,000 rapists were sentenced to prison, presenting a dismal picture of conviction of sexual offenders. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 24,206 rape cases were registered in India in 2011 but only 5,724 people were convicted for the crime.
Similarly, in 2010, 22,172 rape cases were registered while the number of convicted persons for the crime was 5,632. A total of 21,397 rape cases were registered in 2009 but only 5,316 persons could be convicted. The highest number of rape cases – 9,539 – were registered in Madhya Pradesh between 2009-11 but only 2,986 persons were convicted during the period.
‘The President of India has accorded his assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 on Sunday,’ an official release said. A Home Ministry spokesperson also said the ordinance was approved by the President.
The union cabinet on Friday recommended the draft of the ordinance to the President for his assent in a bid to fast-track stringent amendments to the criminal laws to check crime against women. The ordinance came less than three weeks before the start of the Budget Session of Parliament.
The ordinance, based on the recommendations of the Justice J S Verma Committee and going beyond, also proposes to replace the word ‘rape’ with ‘sexual assault’ to expand the definition of all types sexual crimes against women.
The ordinance has evoked a mixed response with opposition BJP welcoming it but CPI(M) and several women’s groups opposed it, attacking the government for doing ‘injustice’ to Verma Committee recommendations.
Being brought against the backdrop of the gangrape and brutal assault of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi in December that shook the country, the ordinance entails changes in the criminal law by amending Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Evidence Act.
It also proposes enhanced punishment for other crimes against women like stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks, indecent gestures like words and inappropriate touch and brings into its ambit ‘marital rape’.
The union cabinet at the specially-convened meeting went beyond the Verma committee’s recommendation by providing for capital punishment in the cases where rape leads to death of the victim or leaves her in ‘persistent vegetative state’.
In such cases, the minimum punishment will be 20 years in jail which can be extended to the natural life of the convict or death, sources said, adding discretion will be with the court.
SPEEDY JUSTICE IS A RIGHT: SC
Frowning upon routine adjournments, the Supreme Court has said that speedy disposal of cases was the ‘primary morality of justice and ethical fulcrum of the judiciary’. ‘The foundation of justice, apart from other things, rests on the speedy delineation of the list (of cases) pending in courts,’ said the apex court bench of judges K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra in a recent verdict.
‘It would not be an exaggeration to state that (speedy justice) is the primary morality of justice and ethical fulcrum of the judiciary,’ the two judges said.
‘Its profundity lies in not allowing anything to cripple the same or to do any act which would freeze it or make it suffer from impotency,’ Justice Misra said, speaking for the bench.
Holding that the ‘virtues of adjudication cannot be allowed to be paralyzed by adjournments and non-demonstration of due diligence to deal with the matter’, he said: ‘One cannot be oblivious to the feeling necessities of the time.
‘It is devastating to expect infinite patience. Change of attitude is the warrant and command of the day.’
The court said this while taking note of 10 years taken by the Rajasthan High Court in deciding whether an appeal in a civil matter pertaining to a piece of land involved a substantial question of law. The case was instituted in 1990.
ORDINANCE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ISSUED EARLIER, SAYS BJP
The BJP said that the promulgation of ordinance for stricter punishment for sexual crimes against women was a belated move by the government to address concerns of people on the issue and should have been brought earlier. Party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that the BJP supports moves towards strict laws to deter crimes against women but the govt should have acted earlier.
ONLY 16,000 CONVICTED FROM 68,000 RAPE CASES IN 2009-11
Nearly 68,000 rape cases were registered across the country during 2009-11 but only 16,000 rapists were sentenced to prison, presenting a dismal picture of conviction of sexual offenders. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 24,206 rape cases were registered in India in 2011 but only 5,724 people were convicted for the crime.
Similarly, in 2010, 22,172 rape cases were registered while the number of convicted persons for the crime was 5,632. A total of 21,397 rape cases were registered in 2009 but only 5,316 persons could be convicted. The highest number of rape cases – 9,539 – were registered in Madhya Pradesh between 2009-11 but only 2,986 persons were convicted during the period.