Amid massive mass protests against the rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar hospital, the West Bengal Assembly, on Tuesday, unanimously passed a State anti-rape Bill, seeking capital punishment for rape convicts if their actions result in the victim’s death or leave her in a vegetative state.
The Bill, titled ‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024,’ proposed to amend the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 laws and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 in their application to the state to make punishment for rape and child abuse more stringent.
This is a historic bill, said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, speaking at the assembly.
She stated, “The Prime Minister couldn’t do it. We did it. The Prime Minister is an embarrassment for the country. He failed to protect the women of this country. I demand the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.”
The Chief Minister said the State government wanted the Centre to amend its existing laws and include stricter clauses to ensure exemplary punishment for perpetrators and quicker justice to victims.
“They showed no enthusiasm for it. That is why we made the move first. This Bill, once enacted, can serve as a model for the rest of the country,” she added.
BJP legislators shouted slogans and demanded Banerjee’s resignation over the RG Kar hospital incident.
The Bill was passed after the BJP MLAs, comprising the Opposition in the Assembly, lent their support to it. The Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, alleged that Banerjee moved the Bill to “divert attention from public anger and protests” over the gruesome crime.
The Bill includes the provision of the death penalty for person/s committing rape and inflicting injury which causes death or causes the victim to be in a vegetative state. It also stipulates life sentence without parole for other perpetrators. The Bill also includes a provision for time-bound and faster trial in rape cases.
According to legal experts, West Bengal has the power to enact a new anti-rape law, but the fate of the Aparajita Bill will depend on the decision of both Governor C V Ananda Bose and President Droupadi Murmu.
“As our criminal procedure code and Indian penal code fall under concurrent list, both the Centre and State can enact laws. If a state wants to enact laws different from that of the Centre and make amendments, it has the power to do so, but subject to the approval of the President of India. So, West Bengal can enact a new anti-rape law. Now, as the State Assembly has passed the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill, the government will have to send it to the Governor. If the Governor passes the Bill, then it would have to be sent to the President for the final approval. If the President gives her assent to the Bill, then those amendments which are made in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) would be incorporated,” said senior lawyer NG Khaitan.
“If the Bill gets Presidential assent, then punishment of rape of any kind-- whether gang rape, rape with any women under 16 and/or 18 years of age, rapes with permanent disability and/or murder-- committed in the state of West Bengal shall be life imprisonment and/or death penalty,” Khaitan said.