Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeks fast-track courts for rape cases

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has written to Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra urging him to either set up fast track higher courts or accord high priority to rape cases for its speedy disposal.

Chouhan in the letter dated July 2, 2018 has said, “A few incidents of rape cases in the country have created uproar among the citizens and a feeling of distress in my mind. The menace of rape has shaken the conscience of a common man.”

He said, “Madhya Pradesh was the first state in India to pass a bill providing for death penalty to an accused convicted of rape of a girl under 12 years of age. The Criminal Law (Amendment Ordinance) 2018 also provides for the same. However, stringent penal provision in law seems not to deter a few hardcore criminal-minded people.”

However, state Congress media coordinator Narendra Saluja said the letter was nothing but a government’s attempt to divert people’s attention from government’s failure in checking crimes against women.