A special two-day session of the legislature will be convened to pass a Bill on the lines of DISHA Act in Andhra Pradesh to counter atrocities against women, said Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday.
He said that to make the proposed Bill a reality, it is necessary to take the opinions of Law and Justice, Women and Child Development and Finance Departments. “But the government had to curtail the current session due to outbreak of coronavirus. It is important to make this Bill foolproof and it won’t be right to rush through with it. Therefore a special two-day session will be held,” said Mr. Deshmukh in the Assembly. He added that a thorough discussion with inputs from all MLAs is necessary.
Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis said the draft of the Bill should be made available online for the people to give their opinion. Mr. Deshmukh agreed to this.
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Last month, the government appointed a four-member committee comprising of DGP Subodh Jaiswal and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sanjay Kumar to study the DISHA Act. Mr. Deshmukh too had visited Andhra Pradesh in this regard.
The A.P. Assembly has passed the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Acr, 2019, which mandates probe of a case of violence against a woman in seven days and trial in 14 working days, reducing the total judgement time to 21 days from the existing four months. Demands for a similar law were voiced in Maharashtra following the death of a woman who was set ablaze by stalker in Vidarbha’s Wardha district.