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West Bengal Governor CV Anand Bose has sent back the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Law Amendment) Bill, 2024 to the state government. Last year, the Mamata Banerjee government faced public criticism over the RG Hospital rape and murder case, after which the state passed the anti-rape bill in the assembly to increase punishment in sexual assault cases, ensure speedy investigation and provide speedy justice.
The chief minister introduced the bill less than a month after a junior doctor was allegedly raped and murdered in the seminar hall of the West Bengal government-run RG Kar College and Hospital.
The bill was sent to the President by the governor but has now been sent back to the state. The reason cited is that although the bill proposes to increase the punishment for rape from a minimum of 10 years to life imprisonment for the rest of life or death, the proposed punishment is “disproportionate and excessively harsh”.
Objection raised to this provision of the bill
The second proposal of the bill to remove Section 65, which distinguishes between rape of women under 16 years and 12 years of age, was also rejected. The objection said, “The removal of this classification violates the principle of proportionality, as the same punishment for different crimes is legally unjustified.”
The proposed bill also makes the death penalty mandatory in cases where the victim dies or remains in a persistent vegetative state. However, this was also objected to as the mandatory death penalty violates earlier Supreme Court judgments (particularly Mithu vs Punjab, 1983), which held that judicial discretion is necessary in sentencing.
Trinamool opposes return of bill
When asked about women’s safety in the state after the RG Kar case and the recent rape of a Kasba Law College student, ministers and Trinamool Congress leaders said they would take up the Aparajita Anti-Rape Bill.
Trinamool state general secretary Kunal Ghosh criticized the central government for returning the bill. He questioned why the Center returned the Aparajita Bill to the state? Did they object to it and called death penalty for rape and murder an extremely cruel punishment? He clearly said that Trinamool Congress will oppose this decision of the central government. This has also made the mentality of the BJP clear. What is the thinking of the BJP regarding the safety of women?
