NEWS The Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill, 2020, recently tabled in the state’s assembly, takes a myopic view of the problem of sexual violence.

ISSUES WITH THE BILL

• Most governments, when faced with the question of improving women’s safety, inevitably turn to enacting new laws rather than ensuring a more effective legal system. 
• The Bill’s content reflects the absence of a larger consultative process and lack of understanding of existing criminal laws.
• The Bill proposes punishment in cases of false complaints. Offences against women often occur behind closed doors or at desolate places, making finding eyewitnesses difficult. Investigation and prosecution are often shabby and negligent. This results in unfair acquittals, and the victims, in turn, may be accused of having filed false complaints. 
• Thus, this provision would result in counter cases being filed against victims, and may thus dissuade many victims of sexual assault and acid attacks from filing complaints, thereby muffling women’s voices. 
• In a country where courts have directed women to marry their abuser, the possibility of a counter case would only make it more difficult for a woman to say ‘No’ to such a proposition.
• The Bill introduces provision of the death penalty for crimes heinous in nature but, it does not define what cases would qualify as “heinous in nature”, thus leaving it open to the interpretation of courts. 
• There is no evidence affirming potency of death penalty as a deterrent in preventing crimes. Only the certainty that there will be effective investigation, trial, and therefore punishment, can act as an effective deterrent. 
• On the contrary the death penalty  will increase the chances of victim being murdered in order to get rid of the only witness, as the punishment for both will be the same.
• Studies have shown that often, the accused in sexual assault crimes are relatives or persons known to the victims. If the punishment for the crime is death, then not only the family of the victim, but the victim herself may choose not to report the crime or may turn hostile during the trial.
• Also, several research have also indicated that judges are unlikely to convict a person when the punishment is death.
• This timeline provided by the bill is glaringly insufficient for gathering all evidence or conducting a just trial and would result in hasty functioning and miscarriage of justice as seen in the trial under the Juvenile Justice Act and the POCSO Act.
• The Bill does not state what happens if the investigation, trial, or appeal is not completed within the prescribed time. 

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Post the Nirbhaya case, criminal law amendments and the recommendations of the Verma Committee brought in several progressive amendments to curb violence against women and children, but the system lacks in infrastructure required for the effective implementation of the laws already in place. Hence the need of the hour is to focus on strengthening –

• a robust investigative mechanism
• a dynamic judiciary 
• adequate infrastructure

Hence, it is the time for legislators to understand that, unless these systemic problems are solved, new laws will only be a facade.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/losing-the-plot-on-womens-safety/article33379767.ece