Nagpur: Lawyers’ and women organizations, including activists, on Monday will be presenting their views, objections and recommendations before the joint committee of both the houses of state legislature deliberating on the proposed anti-rape Shakti Bills, in the city on Monday.
The committee, having 22 members of both the houses and 10 officials, is headed by the state home minister Anil Deshmukh. The women's’ organizations, basically working with the District Women and Child Development Department, have been invited to voice their suggestions from 3pm while the lawyers will be heard from 5pm.
Similar meetings would also be held in Mumbai (January 19) and Aurangabad (January 29). The bill, after receiving the cabinet clearance and the state legislature nod, was sent to the central government for approval and then Presidential assent.
The bill has been drafted on the lines of the Disha Act of Andhra Pradesh which has a provision of capital punishment for rape. The enactment was put into place following the gang rape and murder of a Hyderabad-based veterinarian.
District Bar Association president Advocate Kamal Satuja too will be giving his suggestion. He said, “Instead of instilling fear with harsher punishments, the aim should be to deter the perpetrators with more chances of convictions. More stringent the provisions of law, there are greater chances of its misuse. It may lead to the law losing the steam.”
High Court Bar Association president Advocate Gauri Venkataraman too would among the ones present. She, through her guarded opinions, said that her aim would be ensure that the new law should benefit both the society and the victim. “As legal practitioners, we are in a more agreeable position to express our opinions regarding the practical applicability of the new enactment. We would try to bring more practical and technical approach to tackling the crime that the new law intends to address,” she said.
Social activist Nutan Rewatkar, who has already mailed her suggestions to the committee, said consenting adults should be kept out from the framework of the new law. “Instead of consenting adults, the law should encompass transgenders and become gender neutral for victims under age of 10 years,” she said.