The government today said it will ascertain if judges refuse to hear divorce cases involving child molestation by either parent as claimed in a private member's bill before considering amendment to the law in this regard.
The private member bill, moved by BJP's Subramanian Swamy on March 24 in the Rajya Sabha, essentially sought deletion of Section 19 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 which makes it mandatory for anyone having knowledge about molestation of a child to report it to the police.
Even judges have to inform the police if they get know while hearing divorces cases, because of which several judicial officers refuse to take up such cases, according to Swamy.
The BJP member said 21 such cases have been reported spread over the last 4 years. "I will provide names of judges if you want," he said.
"If any information comes to my ministry, we will look into it and consider amendment of the Act," Minister of State for Women and Child Krishna Raj said while replying to the debate on bill.
"Child exploitation is a big menace. More than bringing amendments to the Act, there is a need to change the mindset of the people," she said, highlighting the measures taken to curb sexual harassment on children.
After the assurance, Swamy withdrew the bill.
According to Section 19 of the Act, any person, who fails to report the commission of an offence or who fails to record such offence shall be punished with imprisonment of either description which may extend to six months or with fine or with both.
"I do agree that we need a strict law. However, this particular Section needs to be redrafted in such a way that judges are not compelled to report them," Swamy said moving the bill for consideration of the House.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said "there may be infirmities in the law but I think this amendment is the most ill-advised".
The former Union Minister said, "it was not a mistake but a conscious decision was taken" to bring such provisions under the Act by the then UPA government.
Basawaraj Patil of the BJP said there is a lacunae in the Act due to which many judges find themselves in a quandary. "I hope the government will understand these practical difficulties," Patil added.
Viplove Thakur of the Congress, while supporting the proposal to amend the Act, said, the police forces should be sensitised to change their mindset through counselling, etc.
"There should be fear in the minds of offenders through proper implementation. Only making a law will not help," she said, adding that child trafficking in India has reached alarming levels.
Mahesh Poddar of the BJP said there is a need to amend the law and the House can make recommendations to the government in this regard.
Referring to the government's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign, Congress member Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu said just a campaign or slogan is not going to be sufficient and the governmemt should look at imparting job-oriented training to females to empower them.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)