With the West Bengal Assembly having passed the 'Aparajita Bill' recently, introducing death penalty for rape following protests against the rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, THE WEEK examines how the proposed legislation compares with a similar Bill previously passed by the Maharashtra Assembly. However, the latter has not received the mandatory assent of the President yet.
Other states such as Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh too have passed laws prescribing death penalty as the maximum punishment in all cases of rape by amending the criminal laws at force then. However, the President has not yet given her assent to any of these. The Aparajita Bill also recommends formation of a Special Task Force and trial by special courts in every district for rape cases.
In 2020, the Maharashtra government passed the Shakti Bill – Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill, 2020 which introduced death penalty in rape cases and provided shortened timelines for conducting investigation and trial. While the Shakti Bill introduced death penalty in "heinous" acid attack cases where circumstances warrant exemplary punishment, the Aparajita Bill of West Bengal only recommends "rigorous imprisonment for life”.
In the case of POCSO Act, both the Shakti Bill and the Aparajita Bill introduce death penalty as punishment for penetrative sexual assault, despite the highest punishment currently being life imprisonment. For repeat offenders, the Aparajita Bill recommends rigorous imprisonment for life and introduces a provision wherein the state government is bound to create a special Aparajita Task Force in every district to investigate cases of rape. If government officers are found to delay the process or not assist the task force, they will face imprisonment for six months.
Additionally, the Aparajita Bill reduces the time given to complete the trial after the charge-sheet is filed from two months to 30 days. In the case of gang rape, it makes a provision for death penalty in cases where the victim is under 18 years of age, but in cases involving older women, the maximum punishment is rigorous imprisonment for life.
The Shakti Bill of Maharashtra adds another aspect – the inaction by any social media platform or internet or mobile telephony data provider. If these platforms fail to share data with the investigating officer in cases of crime against women, the Bill recommends punishment of up to one month in prison.
However, without the President's Assent, these bills – Aparajita, Shakti and Disha (Andhra Pradesh), all of which amend criminal laws, won't come into force. One reason why it takes time for the assent is because these laws passed by the states are inconsistent with the original law enacted by the Parliament. But, with the assent, the laws passed by the states will be void, especially as criminal law and criminal procedure fall under the Concurrent List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, in which both states and Centre can pass laws but the President assent is mandatory.
