West Bengal Assembly passes anti-rape bill prescribing death penalty for convicts

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, also referred to as the Anti-Rape Bill. .The Bill calls for enhanced punishment for rape convicts and makes the death penalty mandatory if the rape victim dies or is left in a vegetative state. It was introduced in the wake of the brutal rape and murder of a resident doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, on August 9.According to a PTI report, the Bill was tabled by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government today and was unanimously passed after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led opposition also supported the move. .The newly passed anti-rape Bill proposes to enhance the punishment for rape and ensure the speedy investigation and trial of heinous crimes against women and children.To this end, it seeks to amend parts of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), as applicable to West Bengal. The proposed amendments include the following. .Enhanced punishments1. For the offence of rape (Section 64, BNS), the punishment is sought to be enhanced to life imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's natural life or death, with a fine. Presently (under the unamended BNS), the punishment prescribed for this offence is rigorous imprisonment of at least 10 years, which may extend to life imprisonment (life imprisonment for the remainder of one's life in certain cases).2. For the offence of rape where the victim is left in a vegetative state or where the victim dies (Section 66 BNS) the death penalty is sought to be made mandatory as punishment, along with a fine. Under the unamended BNS, the punishment prescribed for this offence is rigorous imprisonment for at least twenty years, but which may extend to imprisonment for the remainder of one's natural life, or death.3. For gang rape (Section 70(1) BNS), the Bill prescribes life imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's life or the death penalty along with a fine. Under the BNS, the punishment was imprisonment for at least 20 years, which may extend to life imprisonment for the remainder of one's life.4. For the offence of disclosing a rape victim's identity (Section 72 BNS), the punishment is sought to be enhanced to imprisonment of 3-5 years and a fine. A similar enhanced punishment is proposed for publishing court proceedings in such cases without permission (under the unamended BNS, the penalty for such offences was 2 years of imprisonment and a fine). .Shorter deadlines for probe and trial1. Section 193 of the BNSS is sought to be amended to provide a shorter timeline for investigation in rape cases. The Bill says that such investigations should be completed within 21 days (instead of the two months provided for under the BNSS). This timeline may be extended at the most by 15 days for reasons to be recorded in writing in the case diary, the Bill adds. 2. The Bill also proposes amending Section 346(1) of the BNSS so that inquiry or trial of such cases is completed within 30 days from the date of filing the chargesheet..Special courts and task forceThe Bill also proposed an amendment to the BNSS to establish special courts under a new Section, namely Section 29A. These courts are tasked with ensuring the expeditious completion of inquiries or trials in rape and related cases. Further, under the newly proposed Section 29B, rape trials would be conducted by a Special Public Prosecutor who would be appointed by government notification. Any lawyer appointed to this post must have at least seven years of practice, the proposed provision says. The Bill also introduces Section 29C, which calls for the creation of a special task force known as the Aparajita Task Force at the district level. This task force, headed by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, will be responsible for handling rape cases. Investigations under this task force would, as far as possible, be conducted by a female police officer, the provision says. Those who fail in their duty to assist this task force in carrying out their duties could face six months of imprisonment or a fine which may extend to ₹5,000 or both, the proposed Section 29C (4) adds. .A team from law firm Aquilaw led by advocate Sanjay Basu along with advocates Sucharita Basu, Soumen Mohanty, Swati Sharma, Riddhi Jain, Shibana Farheen, Upasana Mohanty and intern Pragya Basak was associated with the drafting of the bill. .[Read Bill]