The amendments proposed by the draft ‘Shakti Bill’ – likely to be introduced in the winter session of the state legislature – were discussed last month by a review committee comprising senior officers of the Maharashtra Police.
The proposal draws inspiration from the Disha Act of Andhra Pradesh to effectively fight crime against women.
The proposed provisions provide for the death penalty in all rape cases. At present the death penalty is invoked only for prior conviction in case of gang rape, rape of a minor or rape. Further, the Bill proposes that the chargesheet be filed in 15 days, the trial resumes in 30 days and ends in 45 days.
The Bill also proposes a separate offense punishable with five years for ‘offensive communication’ through telephone, e-mail, social media platform or any other electronic or digital mode.
It is learned that in the meeting held in the presence of State Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil, several officials objected to certain provisions.
A senior Mumbai Police official said that there are hundreds of cases of sexual offenses in which trial has not been completed for two to three years. The official questioned the prudentity of reducing the hearing period to 30 days when there were already a lot of pending cases, a source said.
Another officer objected to the 15-day period for the chargesheet. The officer said that early filing of charge sheet is a good thing, but this provision can speed up the investigating officer. The officer can file a charge sheet within 15 days without collecting any solid evidence, which may be counterproductive in case of a conviction.
“In some sensitive cases this can be done as multiple teams are formed to share the workload like in the Sakinaka rape case. However, it is not possible to involve so many teams in every case,” a source quoted an official as saying in the meeting.
Another provision that was debated was to demand the death penalty in all rape cases. Some officials pointed out that carrying the death penalty in all cases could put the victim in danger as an accused would not want to leave any evidence. Another official said that in cases of sexual violence, the perpetrator is a relative or an acquaintance.
“In case of death sentence awarded to a family member or relative, the victim may not get the support of her family to file a complaint,” another official said at the meeting.
The draft bill was prepared by a joint committee consisting of 21 members from all parties – 14 members from the lower house and seven from the upper house. The review committee will now debate the proposed provisions, after which the bill will be introduced in the assembly.
An official said, “A bill can be brought to show that something is being done with cosmetic changes in the law or provisions which can have real meaning in fighting crimes against women. We try to ensure that are doing that the proposed changes help in the fight against sex crimes in the long run.
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