Justice (retired) J S Verma Committee brings the issue of marital rape on discussion table....India may not be ready to make it an offence, but the debate will bring some liberal thoughts having wider implications in long run

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Marital rape may be discussed in Parliament

Vishwa Mohan & Rakhi Chakrabarty |TNN | Feb 16, 2013, 02.40AM IST

NEW DELHI: In what could be the first step to bring the issue of marital rape to the centerstage, members of Parliament are likely to discuss whether it should be treated as an offence during the coming budget session.

The contentious issue, which has remained on the fringes of discussions over criminal laws, will be brought to the mainstream when the government moves to replace the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance with a bill providing for stringent punishment for crimes against women.

Members of Left parties, who have opposed the ordinance as they think the government did not do justice with the Verma Committee recommendations on many issues including marital rape, are expected to raise the issue in unequivocal terms when they push for a 'resolution' disapproving the ordinance.

With Parliament's budget session being convened from February 21, the Rajya Sabha has already admitted the Left-backed resolution to disapprove the Ordinance on Criminal Law (Amendment) that incorporated many key recommendation of the Justice J S Verma Committee report. CPI members D Raja and M P Achuthan had submitted this resolution to the Upper House on February 11.

Seeking to disapprove the ordinance, Raja said, "Why did the government have to bring the ordinance three weeks before Parliament is scheduled to meet?"

Though the ordinance, promulgated by the President on February 1 in the wake of public outrage over the December 16 gang rape, did not include the Verma panel's suggestions for punishing marital rape, the government had indicated that it was quite open to discuss the contentious issue.

The resolution will be listed during the first half of the budget session (February 21-March 22) as the government is mandated to replace the ordinance within six weeks (42 days) of convening Parliament. The House will adjourn on March 22 to meet again on April 22 after a month-long recess.

Before making its way to Parliament, the issue of marital rape will, however, be first discussed during the meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs on February 18.

The panel, considering the pending Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, will also discuss suggestions came from women rights activists and other groups relating to prosecution of members of armed forces under ordinary criminal law in sexual violence cases. At present, there is a provision of sanction for prosecuting such offenders under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

Women rights groups including All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) have rooted for recognize marital rape as an offence. Explaining the stand, the group's general secretary Sudha Sundararaman said, "This exemption (in ordinance), totally and unreasonably, ignores the long standing demand of the women's organizations and others to recognize marital rape as rape".

The association has also submitted its suggestions to the parliamentary panel seeking amendments in the pending Bill to include marital rape as an offence.

Turning down the contention that the government had rejected important recommendations of the justice Verma Committee report, finance minister P Chidambaram had on February 4 said that the ordinance was "only the starting point of a legislative process". He had appealed for patience, assuring more consultations over a range of issues like marital rape, reduction of juvenile age, creation of the offence of "breach of command responsibility" and amending CrPC relating to sanction and the AFSPA..........................................................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEzLzAyLzE2I0FyMDE5MDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Death penalty ....... 'rarest of the rare' doctrine goes for six ... Is it really a cultural phenomena in India?

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One death penalty commuted to life term every day in India

Vishwa Mohan & Himanshi Dhawan,TNN | Feb 18, 2013, 03.34AM IST

NEW DELHI: India may be reporting one death penalty every third day but it also commutes one capital punishment to life imprisonment every day - thanks to Delhi which leads the chart by making course correction in old cases. 

The national Capital, which reported 71 death penalties during 2001-11, saw 2,462 commutations in that 11-year period - accounting for more than 50% of the total commutations (4,321) in the country. Most of these commutations were related to cases where convicts were awarded death penalties by lower courts before 2001. 

Incidentally, Delhi saw more than 99% of the commutations (2,451) in just three years (2005-07) when higher courts went on an over-drive to commute death sentences of convicts to life imprisonment in unprecedented numbers. 

The figures - compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau of the home ministry -- indicate that lower courts were more inclined to award death penalty in previous decades which were later overturned by higher courts during 2001-11. 

Prashant Bhushan, senior Supreme Court lawyer, said, "I am not aware of the Delhi data but there is no standard for death penalty and it depends on the whims of the judges. Perhaps the judges at the helm of affairs at the time were inclined to give death penalty more readily." 

He argued that seeking/awarding death penalty also appeared to be "a cultural thing". For instance, Bhushan said, even among the India Gate protestors (post-December 16 gang rape), there were many who demanded that hanging be made the punishment for rape but the more mature women's organizations opposed this. 

Besides Delhi, the commutation of death penalty to life imprisonment was reported from Uttar Pradesh (458) followed by Bihar (343), Jharkhand (300), Maharashtra (175), West Bengal (98), Assam (97), Odisha (68), Madhya Pradesh (62), Uttaranchal (46), Rajasthan (33), Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Chhattisgarh (24 each), Haryana and Kerala (23 each) and Jammu & Kashmir (18). 

Suhas Chakma, director of Asian Centre for Human Rights who has been calling for abolition of capital punishment, said, "Death penalty is being awarded by sessions courts very regularly by integrating or misinterpreting 'rarest of rare' doctrine to any situation or circumstance. This is a cause of extreme concern and there needs to be greater awareness on what constitutes rarest of rare." 

Asked about the unprecedented high commutation figures in Delhi, a former secretary in the city home department said, "This is a very high number. I can only assume that the trial and lower courts have been generous in handing out death penalty to convicts which have been subsequently overturned by high courts.''................................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDIvMTgjQXIwMTAwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Death penalty......President can just sit over the mercy pleas if he doesn't want to send a convict to gallows; can't reject the decision of the council of ministers

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President Pranab Mukherjee may turn down 5 more mercy pleas

Vishwa Mohan & Himanshi Dhawan,TNN | Feb 15, 2013, 12.11AM IST 

The President had sent the files to Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on October 30 for his review and opinion. Shinde sent the files back within 100 days in a major shift from the pattern.

NEW DELHI: The Union home ministry is learnt to have recommended rejection of mercy petitions in five more cases as it seeks to speedily dispose of all the cases of death row convicts pending with it.

Seeking to have a swift closure on the cases of those who have filed mercy pleas against capital punishment awarded to them, the ministry has sent all the pending files to President Pranab Mukherjee for a final call.

Sources said that seven cases involving the fate of nine people have been sent to the President, with the ministry recommending rejection of the mercy pleas in five cases. It has and left the two remaining ones open for commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment with the rider that the life term means jail for the entire life of the convict and not just 20 years or 14 years in prison.

The President had sent the files to Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on October 30 for his review and opinion. Shinde sent the files back within 100 days in a major shift from the pattern where decisions on mercy petitions were indefinitely delayed with files shuttling between the home ministry and the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Though the case-wise recommendations for convicts were not known as both the home ministry and Rashtrapati Bhavan continue to remain tightlipped on mercy petition files, the seven cases relate to multiple murders, including one in which a rape convict out on bail killed five members of the victim's family.

While two files were sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 9 (the day Parliament House attack case convict Afzal Guru was hanged), the remaining five files were dispatched last month.

The mercy files, which have been pending for years while moving to and fro between Rashtrapati Bhavan and the home ministry, saw unprecedented movement of late, resulting in two quick hangings (Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru) within less than three months. Mukherjee had rejected the mercy plea of Kasab on November 5, and Guru on February 3.

The files, which are now with President Mukherjee, include the longest pending case of Gurmeet Singh of Uttar Pradesh, who was convicted for killing 13 members of a family on August 17, 1986. The others cases are of Suresh and Ramji, also from UP, who were convicted for killing five members of their brother's family and Dharampal from Haryana, who had murdered five members of the family of a girl he had raped in 1993. He had murdered the family while on bail in the rape case.

The other cases are of Sonia, daughter of a former Haryana MLA, and her husband Sanjeev, who drugged and killed eight of her family in Hisar in 2001, including her parents. Sunder Singh from Uttarakhand is convicted for rape and murder on June 30, 1989, Jafar Ali from Uttar Pradesh who was convicted for killing wife and five daughter in 2002 and Praveen Kumar of Karnataka, convicted for killing four members of a family on February 23, 1994.

Mukherjee has so far disposed of mercy petitions of eight death row convicts in five cases.

The President has also rejected the mercy petitions of Saibanna Ningappa Natikar (Karnataka: convicted for killing wife and daughter) and mercy petitions of slain forest brigand Veerappan's associates Gnanaprakash, Simon, 'Meesai' Madaian and Pilavendran, who were sentenced to death for killing 22 police personnel in 1993.

However, the mercy petition of Atbir (Delhi), who was convicted for murder of his step-mother, step-sister and step-brother over property, was commuted to life imprisonment by the President.

Strained mercy:

1,455 persons awarded death penalty in India from 2001 to 2011

Sentences for 4,321 persons were commuted from death penalty to life imprisonment during the same period.

Highest number of death penalty was imposed in Uttar Pradesh (370) followed by Bihar (132), Maharashtra (125), Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (95 each), Madhya Pradesh (87), Jharkhand (81), West Bengal (79), Delhi (71), Gujarat (57), Rajasthan (38), Kerala (34), Odisha (33), Haryana (31), Assam (21), Jammu & Kashmir (20), Punjab (19), Chhattisgarh (18), Uttarakhand (16), Andhra Pradesh (8), Meghalaya (6), Chandigarh and Daman & Diu (4 each), Manipur and Himachal Pradesh (3 each), Tripura and Pondicherry (2 each) and Goa (1)

No death penalty imposed in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim and Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep

Sentences of 4,321 persons were commuted from death penalty to life imprisonment in the country during 2001-11

(Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights report comprising NCRB data).........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEzLzAyLzE1I0FyMDAzMTE=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Afzal Guru's hanging --- Government shows its cruel face

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Letter intimating Afzal Guru’s family ‘traceless’ for over 48 hours

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Feb 14, 2013, 06.07PM IST 

India Post website has no details of the status of the speed post letter on the day (February 9) Afzal Guru was hanged inside Tihar Jail.

NEW DELHI: With the government facing all-round criticism for the way it went about informing AfzalGuru's family about his impending hanging, it now emerges that the India Post website has no details of the status of the Speed Post letter on the day (February 9) the Parliament House attack convict was hanged insideTihar Jail.

India Post's website - which allows online tracking of Speed Post consignments — has time-wise details of the 'item' (letter to Guru's family) for February 8 (Friday), 10 (Sunday) and 11 (Monday), but left February 9 (Saturday) out of its information network - giving an impression that the letter from Tihar authorities remained 'traceless' for over 48 hours.

However, now when we tried to track the mail again through the India Post's Speed Post tracker, it was unavailable.

Tracking the Speed Post letter (ED828032795IN) shows that it was booked post-midnight (12.07am on February 8) at New Delhi GPO and delivered to Guru's wife Tabassum at her Sopore address at 11.02am on February 11 - nearly 51 hours after Guru was hanged.

Timings given on the website show that the bag carrying the letter was dispatched to Srinagar at Palam airport at 10.29am on February 8 and was received in Srinagar at 1.03pm on February 10. It took the postal department another four hours to dispatch the 'letter' to Sopore. The 'item' - meant for Guru's wife - reached Sopore the next morning around 9.50am and was finally delivered to Tabassum at 11.02am on February 11.

The postal department not knowing about the contents of the letter and the curfew in Srinagar and Sopore post-hanging could be possible excuses but the timings mentioned in the speed post tracking system could well explain the lack of seriousness on the government's part to inform Guru's family on time.

Though there is some unease within the government over house arrest of journalist Iftikar Gilani and the way police allegedly handled his children as claimed by him, officials said there was unanimity at the top levels about informing Guru's family through Speed Post — an indication that the government indeed did not want to invite trouble before the execution.

The speed post controversy, in fact, did not deter home minister Sushilkumar Shinde from defending the government's decision to hang Guru in a hush-hush manner. Shinde had on Monday admitted that the government had rushed to hang Guru and that too quietly within six days of getting his mercy plea rejected as it did not want his case to meet the same fate as that of the killers of former PM Rajiv Gandhi and former Punjab CM Beant Singh.

He had suggested that disclosure of the execution plan had given the killers of Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh enough time to approach courts after their mercy petitions were rejected by the President.

Geelani was detained at his father-in-law and separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's house here on the day of Guru's hanging. He was, however, later allowed to go when fellow journalists intervened and took up the matter with the police. The home ministry has, meanwhile, asked Delhi Police for an explanation over the incident which has put a question mark over the government's intention......................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JUFUvMjAxMy8wMi8xNCNBcjAxMTAy&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Afzal Guru's hanging.......Debate around this hanging may go far

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Afzal Guru hanged, remains in Tihar; no last wish, refused to eat

Vishwa Mohan, Bharti Jain & Indrani Basu,TNN | Feb 10, 2013, 01.11AM IST 

Afzal Guru, who helped plot the attack and arranged logistics for the Pakistani attackers, was not informed until around 5 am Saturday morning about his impending death.

NEW DELHI: Afzal Guru, the key collaborator of the Pakistani jihadis who attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001, was hanged at 8am on Saturday, bringing a sense of closure to the audacious terror attack that could have wiped out a section of India's top political leadership and brought the two nations to war.

The terror attack, in which a group of five Pakistanis from Maulana Masood Azhar's Jaish e Mohammed managed to enter Parliament premises, resulted in nine deaths. But its impact went far beyond: it brought India and Pakistan to an eyeball-toeyeball confrontation as a seething Vajpayee government ordered the country's biggest military mobilization, Operation Parakram.

The Pakistan jihadis had planned to kill as many Indian parliamentarians as they could and take the rest hostage. They were planning to emulate fellow Jaish jihadis who had earlier secured the release of their leader, Masood Azhar, and Daniel Pearl's killer, Omar Sheikh, by hijacking an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar in December 1999.

Coming just after the 9/11 attack in New York, the Parliament attack also vividly brought home the enormity of India's terror challenge, leading to the enactment of special anti-terror law, POTA, and a new era of heightened security typified by a fortification of Parliament and modernization of India's security apparatus.

Guru, who helped plot the attack and arranged logistics for the Pakistani attackers, was not informed until around 5 am Saturday morning about his impending death, although he had sensed something was afoot when jail authorities vacated the cells next to his. The terrorist looked tense and skipped his dinner on Friday and was stunned when the death warrant was read out on Saturday morning.

According to jail sources, Guru was looking dazed when he was asked to sign certain documents. He bathed and offered namaz before six jail warders marched him to the scaffold. He was handed to the executioner at around 7.30am and was pronounced dead at 8am.

Given the far-reaching changes brought about by his actions, Afzal's hanging — the second in three months for sensational terror attacks after Ajmal Kasab's on November 21, 2012 — the hanging was kept an ultra-secret affair in order to avert repercussions in J&K and dodge last-minute legal challenges. The Centre informed J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah about the execution just 12 hours before the hanging.

The decision to bury Guru inside Tihar's Jail No. 3 in the maximum security prison complex, just like another Kashmiri terrorist Maqbool Butt who was hanged in 1984, was aimed to preventing the grave from becoming a rallying point for pro-Pakistan secessionists from J&K.

Guru's family member and counsel claimed that they had been kept in the dark about the execution and insisted that the body should have been handed over to them.

Guru's hanging, 11 years after the attack by ISI-backed JeM and seven years after Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence awarded to him was preceded by a wrenching and highly politicized debate on the long delay in carrying out this capital punishment. But the government moved swiftly once it made up its mind.......................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDIvMTAjQXIwMDMwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

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VIP Security .... nothing changed for common citizens despite a dip in the list of privileged ones .... 2010 and 2011 figures produce same result

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3 cops to protect each VIP, just 1 policeman for 761 citizens

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Feb 8, 2013, 12.56AM IST 

Government’s figures show the 14,842 VIPs enjoying state protection are also drawing more than what they are entitled to by way of police escorts — 15,081 personnel in excess of what has been actually sanctioned for their security.

NEW DELHI: India's police personnel to population ratio is 1: 761, but there are as many as 47,557 cops protecting 14,842 VIPs across the country or three police personnel to one protectee even as rising crime poses a serious threat to the security of the common citizen.

Excessive deployment of police persons to secure VIPs is not just a Delhi's phenomena where the country's who's who lives as the VIP security is highest in Punjab followed by Delhi and Assam. In fact, hardly any state is immune from the red and blue beacon syndrome.

Government's figures show the 14,842 VIPs enjoying state protection are also drawing more than what they are entitled to by way of police escorts — 15,081 personnel in excess of what has been actually sanctioned for their security.

The figures, released by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) of the ministry of home affairs, show a staggering deployment of police personnel for security duties rather than basic tasks like making the nation's streets safer. It is hardly surprising that police forces remain overworked and understaffed.

The data, as on January 1, 2012, presents a grim scenario with some states like West Bengal having one cop for 1,658 citizens. Delhi is slightly better with one cop for 253 people but it is no surprise that the efficiency of the city police is impacted with a dozen police personnel guarding each of 427 VIPs - adding up to around 5,000 cops.

In fact, states like Bihar have a far more lop-sided ratio (1,456), followed by UP (1,173), Dadra & Nagar Haveli (1,046) and MP (962).

Although the number of protected persons dipped last year as compared to 2010, deployment for VIP security is still quite high as compared to the sanctioned strength for this purpose as are the number of VIP protectees. In 2011, as many as 3,030 people were given police security in Bihar, followed by Punjab (1,798) and West Bengal (1,698).

The data, comprising figures for 2011 and 2010, reveal how different states and Union Territories tend to deploy more and more cops for VIP security than the sanctioned strength of police personnel for this purpose, faced with an increasing clamour for a security detail that is seen as a status symbol.

Though the Union home ministry had in the last two years pruned the central list of VIP protectees, including ministers and bureaucrats, by constantly reviewing the 'real' threat perception, states do not seem to respond accordingly despite facing a huge shortage of police personnel.

In 2010, all the states and UTs together deployed 50,059 police personnel for protecting 16,788 VIPs, including ministers, MPs, MLAs, bureaucrats and judges. Interestingly, deployment of police personnel for these VIPs during the year was 21,761 more than what was actually sanctioned for their security.

The data, presented to the home ministry by the BPR&D, also shows that Punjab, which reports a vacancy of around 12,000 police personnel, topped the list sparing 5,811 cops to secure VIPs followed by Delhi (5,183), Assam (4,278) and Andhra Pradesh (3,664) despite facing shortage.

Though these figures slightly vary for Delhi as it has to deploy more whenever VIPs of other states or foreign dignitaries have to visit the national Capital, the BPR&D has taken into account the deployment figure of six months while arriving at the final data...................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDIvMDgjQXIwMDMwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

MHA vs. MoD over conduct of Indian Air Force personnel in Red Zone

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MHA, MoD at war over IAF men 'fleeing' Reds

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Feb 6, 2013, 12.39AM IST 

NEW DELHI: The spat over Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel allegedly abandoning an injured police wireless operator after Maoists' firing forced the chopper they were in to land is deepening with the home ministry describing the IAF crew's conduct as "extremely disturbing" and demanding an inquiry. 

In a developing war of words, the home ministry has virtually accused six IAF personnel, including two commandos, of losing their nerve in leaving behind a bleeding Chhattisgarh Police constable Yamlal Sahu in the chopper along with a light machine gun and a pistol. 

The home ministry has asked the defence ministry to probe the incident that occurred in a deeply wooded area of Chhattisgarh's Sukma district last month, with home secretary R K Singh writing to his defence counterpart Shashikant Sharma last week questioning the IAF men's actions. 

Singh argued that the IAF men seem to have violated standard operating procedures in deserting the helicopter, their weapons and the injured wireless operator, reflecting poorly on their battle hardiness. 

The IAF detachment has sought to justify its decision to rush to the safety of the Central Reserve Police Force camp at Chintagufa on the ground that they were seeking help for the injured wireless operator. But with Sukma notorious for its heavy Naxal presence, fears of a "Black Hawk down" scenario may not have seemed out of place. 

The Mi-17 chopper was forced to land after it was fired at by automatic weapons with bullets striking the windscreen and fuel tank. Two bullets hit Sahu in the thigh and stomach and he later lay in the crashed chopper messaging for help that took three hours to reach. 

"In view of the above (episode), I request you to kindly have the matter inquired into and take action deemed fit", said Singh in his note even as the IAF is already conducting a court of inquiry (CoI) into the entire incident. 

Earlier, defence minister A K Antony had sought a detailed report from the IAF in the wake of media coverage that highlighted how the IAF personnel had preferred to save their own lives by fleeing the site without leaving at least the commandos behind with Sahu. 

IAF, on the other hand, feels that police must bear part of the blame for not sanitizing the area where the chopper was to air lift two injured persons from a paramilitary camp. 

Stating that necessary action will be taken against anyone who committed lapses and did not follow SOPs, an IAF official said, "A court of inquiry (CoI) is looking into the entire incident. It will examine all aspects, right from the clearances and sanitization required for the helipad (by the policemen on the ground) to the handling of the emergency by the pilots since the Mi-17 was hit by 18-19 bullets and the action taken thereafter".

He, however, emphasized, "The CoI will also look into the role of other security agencies concerned" - an indication that IAF feels the Chhattisgarh Police might have also been erred in not sanitizing the landing site of the IAF chopper at Timilwada in Sukma. 

Admitting that the landing site was not the properly sanitized by the Chhattisgarh Police, the home secretary on January 30 wrote, "We'll take this issue separately with the state police". 

The home secretary is learnt to have written to Sharma after getting detailed report of the incident from the CRPF and Chhattisgarh Police. The paramilitary force has also urged the state police to improve sanitization of the area where a chopper is supposed to land in the Maoist-dominated zones. 

Maoists fired at the helicopter while it was descending at Timilwada to fly two policemen injured in an encounter with Red ultras to a hospital. The bullets hit the windscreen and body and pierced the fuel tank of the helicopter, forcing it to crash land about 2km from the camp.................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDIvMDYjQXIwMDEwMg==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom 

Death penalty for rapists - Ordinance takes note of popular demand post-December 16 gang rape

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Repeat rapists to face capital punishment

Vishwa Mohan & Himanshi Dhawan,TNN | Feb 5, 2013, 12.49AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Death penalty will not just be restricted to rapists in cases where the victim dies or is pushed into a persistent vegetative state, but will also be awarded to those who "repeat" the offence of aggravated sexual assault. 

The provisions of the ordinance on sexual assault laws, made public by the government on Monday, put repeat offence of rape in the "rarest of rare category" which will attract maximum punishment of death penalty. 

Significantly, government also indicated on Monday that it had an open mind on contentious issues such as whether martial rape should be treated as an offence, and defended the decision to bring in the ordinance by asserting that it would deter potential rapists during the period Parliament enacts the new law. 

Explaining the provision of death for repeat offenders, finance minister P Chidambaram said, "Death has also been prescribed as the maximum punishment in the case of a second conviction for the offence of sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault." He said such a provision would apply to those who committed the crime a second time after being released from jail on completion of post-conviction jail term, as well as those who committed a repeat offence while out of prison on parole. 

The finance minister, along with I&B minister Manish Tewari, was talking to reporters about the finer points of the ordinance which has come under attack from women's rights activists for not incorporating Justice (retired) J S Verma committee's recommendations for punishing marital rape as well as failure of officers to prevent rapes by men serving under their "command". The ministers turned down the contention that the government had rejected important, if contentious, recommendations of the Justice Verma committee. 

Activists have attacked the ordinance also for ignoring the Justice Verma panel's recommendation to amend the Criminal Procedure Code and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and do away with the requirement to obtain sanction for proceeding against armed forces personnel facing rape charges. 

Chidambaram termed the ordinance "only the starting point of a legislative process", adding the legislative process was not yet complete. "I would appeal to everyone to allow the legislative process to be completed in the forthcoming session of Parliament," he added. 

Chidambaram and Tewari assured more consultations over a range of issues like marital rape, reduction of juvenile age, creation of the offence of "breach of command responsibility" and amending CrPC relating to sanction and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958. They, however, ruled out the possibility of chemical castration for rapists. 

The ministers also explained that since criminal law could not have retrospective effect, the provisions contained in the ordinance would not be applied to the Nirbhaya case accused. But they said the ordinance with provisions for changes in the CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act can help speed up the trial of Nirbhaya's case along with all pending rape cases. 

On why government took the ordinance route, Chidambaram said, "Government hopes that stringent provisions will have a deterrent effect on potential criminals during the period between now and the date on which the new law will be enacted by Parliament." 

Explaining it further, the finance minister said, "The advantage of an ordinance is that an ordinance will amend the criminal laws immediately. On the other hand, if we took the route of a bill, the changes to the law will take affect only upon the passing of the bill and the grant of assent by the President and any crime against women committed during the period when the law is in the making will be punishable only under the existing law." 

As already reported, the ordinance has also introduced a range of new offences against women - voyeurism, stalking and employing a trafficked person - as specific crimes in the IPC. It also provides for maximum punishment up to five years for offences of sexual harassment like explicit sexual overtures, request for sexual favours, forcibly showing pornography or any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature. 

Asserting that the government has not rejected any of the recommendations of the Justice Verma committee, Chidambaram said all suggestions were not incorporated in the ordinance as these would be studied and could be incorporated at a later stage. 

Since the issues have far reaching implications, he said stakeholders concerned, including the armed forces, police and paramilitary forces have to be consulted. 

Chidambaram said there was an obligation on the government to introduce the bill to replace the ordinance and get it passed before six weeks within reassembly of Parliament as required under the Constitution. 

The ordinance contains 22 clauses and of these, 11 clauses have been taken from the pending Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012 either wholly or substantially. "While a part of one clause has been taken from the definition part of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, the remaining clauses reflect the recommendations of the Justice Verma committee," Chidambaram said. 

The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs - which is examining the pending bill - on Monday decided to seek the views of the Rajya Sabha chairman on whether the legislation was still "alive" after promulgation of the ordinance. 

Chairman of the committee, Rajya Sabha member M Venkaiah Naidu (BJP), is learnt to have told the panel that it can still go ahead with examining the bill and give its report to Parliament. Some members are understood to have termed the timing of the ordinance ahead of the budget session as "unprecedented".........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDIvMDUjQXIwMDEwOQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom 

Government takes an Ordinance route to implement major portion of justice (retired) J S Verma Committee recommendations

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Ordinance moots death penalty if rape victim dies or slips into coma

Vishwa Mohan & Pradeep Thakur,TNN | Feb 2, 2013, 01.15AM IST 

The ordinance, designed to change the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012, and set to be promulgated shortly, has accepted Justice Verma committee’s recommendation to treat voyeurism, stalking, disrobing of women and acid attacks as specific offences under the Indian Penal Code.

NEW DELHI: Shaken by the Nirbhaya case, the government on Friday approved a law prescribing death penalty for cases of rape which lead to the victim's death or her slipping into persistent vegetative state, going beyond the recommendations of the Justice JS Verma committee.

An ordinance cleared by the Union Cabinet seeks to treat rapes resulting in death of the victim or causing her to be in a persistent vegetative state as a crime belonging to the "rarest-of-rare" category for which courts can award death punishment if they so decide. For such cases, the ordinance proposes a minimum sentence of 20 years which can be extended to imprisonment until the natural life of the convict, or death.

[Click here to know what the govt accepted, partially accepted or didn't accept of Justice Verma panel report (PDF file)]

The ordinance was rushed through to beat the notification of Parliament's budget session which is due to begin on February 21. The notification would have prevented the issuance of an ordinance.

The ordinance, designed to change the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012, and set to be promulgated shortly, has accepted Justice Verma committee's recommendation to treat voyeurism, stalking, disrobing of women and acid attacks as specific offences under the Indian Penal Code. The change will raise "eve-teasing" from being considered a minor offence to a serious crime attracting enhanced punishment.

The panel's recommendation for punishing those who knowingly employ a trafficked person has been accepted, with the government proposing a maximum sentence of five years for the guilty.

It has also accepted the recommendation of the committee, set up in response to the public upsurge over Nirbhaya rape case, to raise the maximum punishment for rape from the existing 10 years to life. For repeat offenders, the life imprisonment will cover his entire life and not just 14 years as is usually the case now.

Government has also embraced the recommendation that rape committed by a "person in authority" — a term that covers public servants and officers of police and Army — be punished by a minimum 10 years of rigorous imprisonment that can be extended to life.

However, it did not agree with the committee led by the retired Chief Justice of India that rape should not be made a gender-neutral crime. Accordingly, the expression "rape" in law is proposed to be replaced by "sexual assault".

10 years in jail for rape by 'person in authority'

Government has also turned down the committee's recommendations for criminalizing marital rape even in cases where the wife is above 16 years of age, and for punishing command officers who may fail to prevent rapes by subordinates.

The issue of whether the age of a juvenile should be reduced will be treated separately when the Juvenile Justice Act is reviewed.

Law minister Ashwini Kumar described the provisions of the ordinance as "path breaking". He said, "The changes proposed will bring in an effective and purposive law to protect the dignity of women."

He also said the ordinance, drafted with a sense of unprecedented urgency, reflected the UPA government's responsiveness to people's heightened sensitivities, as revealed in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya case, towards crime against women. "We have redeemed the pledge that we made," he said.

But women's rights activists were not pleased, and complained of a letdown. They are upset over the government's refusal to recognize marital rape as an offence, failure to hold command officers accountable for rapes by their subordinates and omission of rapes by armed forces as a category.

Sources in the government defended the provisions as bold, and pointed to a number of Justice Verma committee recommendations being accepted completely.

The law minister said the ordinance seeks to change provisions of Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill which is being examined by a parliamentary standing committee in the light of the recommendations of the Justice Verma committee.

The Justice Verma committee's recommendations have been widely welcomed as a new bill of rights for women.

Click here for the full text of Justice Verma committee's recommendations (PDF file)


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Justice (retired) J S Verma Committee report makes everyone act fast .... PM steps in to speed up the process

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Govt set to clear lifelong jail for rape and murder

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jan 31, 2013, 01.23AM IST 

PM Manmohan Singh on January 30, 2013 assured Justice Verma in a letter that his committee’s recommendations in the wake of the Nirbhaya case would be acted on promptly.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised swift action on the recommendations of the Justice JS Verma committee amid strong indications that the government is ready to toughen laws dealing with crimes against women by providing for life imprisonment for rape-murder and addition of new offences such as disrobing of women, voyeurism, stalking and trafficking.

Sources said the Justice Verma panel's recommendations pertaining to gang rape — punishing the guilty with rigorous imprisonment (minimum 20 years extendable to a jail term for the duration of a convicted person's natural life), identification of gang rape causing death or causing the victim to be in a persistent vegetative state as a new offence, and increased punishment for repeat offenders — will find place in the amended legislation.

Sources also said the ministry was in agreement with the grounds that the Justice Verma panel cited to reject the clamour for death penalty and chemical castration as punishment for rapists.

PM vows action

PM Singh on Wednesday assured Justice Verma in a letter that his committee's recommendations in the wake of the Nirbhaya case would be acted on promptly. "On behalf of our government, I assure you that we will be prompt in pursuing the recommendations of the committee," the PM said in his letter.

The letter addressed Justice Verma's comments that the government could ignore his recommendations only at its own peril. It also appeared to be aimed at aligning government with the popular outrage in the wake of the rape and death of Nirbhaya, given that Justice Verma had complained that the report was received by a middle level bureaucrat.

Singh is learnt to have extended the assurance to Justice Verma after getting feedback on the panel's recommendations from home minister Sushilkumar Shinde who on Wednesday held detailed discussions with his ministry officials.

Shinde later told the media that his ministry would act swiftly on all "actionable" suggestions. Without giving any timeframe, he said, "We will implement it as soon as possible."

An official said, "A final decision on any of these clauses will be taken after considering views of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs which is expected to discuss the Justice Verma panel's report on February 4."

He said the "actionable" suggestions would find its way through official amendment to the Criminal Amendment Bill that was introduced in Parliament in December last year.

The Justice Verma panel suggested introducing new sections to deal with offences like disrobing a woman - such incidents are regularly reported from all over the country and are part of sexual assaults or acts of revenge, including caste animus. Voyeurism, stalking and trafficking are also likely to be dealt with specifically.

Offences like passing lewd remarks, gestures, sounds or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman are covered under Section 509 of the IPC but certain amendments are needed to precisely define 'gestures' and objectionable words.

Sources feel amendments are needed to remove ambiguity in the law so that cops can improve their prospects of securing a conviction against offenders.

At present, Section 509 says, "Whoever intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound be heard, or that gesture shall be seen by such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.".....................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDEvMzEjQXIwMDEwMw==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

American-Pakistani terrorist Dawood Gilani alias David Coleman Headley gets 35 years jail term in US for his role in 26/11 terror attacks and plot to target a Danish newspaper office in Copenhagen

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India likely to quiz Headley via video conferencing

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jan 24, 2013, 10.31PM IST 

Officials said that India would continue to press for extradition as the formal request would be the basis of granting the permission of video-conferencing when the matter comes up before American court.

NEW DELHI: With the US refusing to extradite the 26\11 Mumbai terror attack accused David Coleman Headley, India is left with no option but to explore the possibility of deposing the Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist via video conferencing during the NIA's case trial. 

The US refusal for Headley's extradition to India may be disappointing, but it does not come as a shock to Indian officials who knew that the request to this effect to Washington last year was a prelude to the legal process (seeking video-conferencing on later dates) after the LeT terrorist's sentencing. 

Officials here said that India would continue to press for extradition as the formal request would be the basis of granting the permission of video-conferencing when the matter comes up before American court. 

They are, however, hopeful of getting access to Headley's accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was sentenced to a 14-year jail term by US court on January 17 for his role in the plot to attack a Danish newspaper office in Copenhagen. 

New Delhi had requested Washington for his access as the NIA wanted to interrogate him in connection with his alleged role in the Mumbai terror attack case. Though Rana was acquitted by the US court in the 26\11 case, he is wanted by India for terror attack in the city in November, 2008, and the NIA case that pertains to conspiracy behind a plan to carry out a number of terror attacks in the country. 

Sources said that India's request for access to Headley's wife Shazia Gilani, his girlfriend Portia Peter and one more female friend was yet to be acceded by the US. 

US attorney Gary S Shapiro testifying before an American court on Tuesday ruled out extradition of Headley under a guilty plea that he had entered into with the US government. 

On India's request for questioning Headley's wife Shazia, his girlfriend and another female friend, the US has already conveyed that without the consent of the persons concerned, it is not possible to give any commitment as American law does not allow forcible questioning. "So, we are seeking their consent to quiz them," an official said. 

Though India had limited access to Headley when the NIA questioned him in presence of FBI officials in Chicago in June 2010, it has not been able to question Rana yet. India had written to US last month, requesting for extradition of both Headley and Rana................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JUFUvMjAxMy8wMS8yNSNBcjAxNDAx&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

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