The union cabinet on Thursday gave its nod to the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, as it accepted all recommendations made by a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram. After this, there will be an all-party meeting to discuss the bill on Monday.
The GoM had met on Wednesday and resolved all differences regarding the provision for lowering of age of consent for sex from 18 to 16 years. A stricter punishment for offences like stalking has been included in the bill. Sustained stalking has been made a non-bailable offence. Repeat offences of voyeurism, inappropriate touch, gesture and remarks have been made non-bailable offences as well.The new bill proposes no punishment for false cases filed that allege crimes against women.
The cabinet also decided to retain the term ‘rape’ in the bill and treat it as gender-specific, rejecting the proposal to make it gender-neutral. Provisions seeking strong action against those filing false complaints were dropped from the bill. A source said that during the GoM meet most minsiters agreed that existing laws were adequate for dealing with such cases. They only need to be enforced.
Stalking and voyeurism were, for the first time, defined as criminal offences in the ordinance. The Samajwadi Party has raised questions on certain provisions of the ordinance claiming they are prone to misuse.
The bill will replace Criminal Laws Ordinance which was announced on 3 February, after the 16 December Delhi gang rape case created public outrage. The ordinance has to be approved by Parliament before its recess from 22 March, failing which it would lapse on 4 April.
The bill retains a key provision of the ordinance under which if rape leads to death of the victim or leaves her in vegetative state, it can attract death penalty. The minimum punishment is 20 years in jail which may extend upto the ‘natural life’ of the convict.
LAW ’N BEHOLD
The GoM had met on Wednesday and resolved all differences regarding the provision for lowering of age of consent for sex from 18 to 16 years. A stricter punishment for offences like stalking has been included in the bill. Sustained stalking has been made a non-bailable offence. Repeat offences of voyeurism, inappropriate touch, gesture and remarks have been made non-bailable offences as well.The new bill proposes no punishment for false cases filed that allege crimes against women.
The cabinet also decided to retain the term ‘rape’ in the bill and treat it as gender-specific, rejecting the proposal to make it gender-neutral. Provisions seeking strong action against those filing false complaints were dropped from the bill. A source said that during the GoM meet most minsiters agreed that existing laws were adequate for dealing with such cases. They only need to be enforced.
Stalking and voyeurism were, for the first time, defined as criminal offences in the ordinance. The Samajwadi Party has raised questions on certain provisions of the ordinance claiming they are prone to misuse.
The bill will replace Criminal Laws Ordinance which was announced on 3 February, after the 16 December Delhi gang rape case created public outrage. The ordinance has to be approved by Parliament before its recess from 22 March, failing which it would lapse on 4 April.
The bill retains a key provision of the ordinance under which if rape leads to death of the victim or leaves her in vegetative state, it can attract death penalty. The minimum punishment is 20 years in jail which may extend upto the ‘natural life’ of the convict.
LAW ’N BEHOLD
- Stricter punishment for offences like stalking has been included in bill
- Sustained stalking has been made a non-bailable offence
- Repeat offences of voyeurism, inappropriate touch, gesture and remarks have been made non-bailable offences as well
- The new bill proposes no punishment for false cases filed that allege crimes against women