The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (September 3, 2024) unanimously passed the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024 with a voice vote, with both legislators of the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporting it.
The legislation comes about 25 days after the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, which triggered outrage not only in the State but across the country.
The legislation, tabled by the State’s Law Minister Moloy Ghatak, garnered full support from the Opposition, with the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Suvendu Adhikari calling for the immediate implementation of the Bill.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described it as a “historic and model Bill”. “Any well-meaning person will support it,” Ms. Banerjee said, adding, “I had told the family of the deceased that we will hand over the case to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) if the police was unable to crack it. Now the case is with CBI at the directions of the Calcutta High Court. We want justice from the CBI. The CBI should hang the culprits.”
Participating in the debate in the State Assembly, Ms. Banerjee reaffirmed her administration’s commitment to justice, calling on BJP legislators to urge the Governor to expedite the Bill’s enactment.
Ms. Banerjee said the Bill introduces three critical elements — increased punishment, speedy investigation, and rapid dispensation of justice, specifically targeting cases of sexual assault under the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. “We have increased the quantum of punishment in cases of sexual assault,” Ms. Banerjee noted, outlining the Bill’s core objectives.
With the Assembly’s approval, the Aparajita Women and Child Bill, 2024 now awaits the Governor’s assent, a final procedural step that will enable its implementation. This legislative development underscores West Bengal’s commitment to strengthening the justice system’s response to crimes against women and children.
A court in Kolkata remanded Sandip Ghosh, former principal of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, who was arrested by the CBI on Monday to eight days of police custody. The West Bengal government suspended Dr. Ghosh on Tuesday.
There were noisy scenes in the House when BJP legislators raised slogans demanding the Chief Minister’s resignation over the gruesome crime even as the CM went ahead with her 40 minute speech. “We wanted the Centre to amend its existing laws and include stricter clauses to ensure exemplary punishment for perpetrators and quicker justice for victims. They showed no enthusiasm for it. That’s why we made the move first. This Bill, once enacted, can serve as a model for the rest of the country,” Ms. Banerjee said.
The State government will form a special ‘Aparajita Task Force’ from among the State police to ensure time-bound completion of the probe, Ms. Banerjee said, citing the provisions of the legislation.
The Leader of the Opposition moved amendments to the Bill, including compulsory punishment for police officials who refused to register First Information Reports (FIRs) in crimes involving sexual assault. The Chief Minister assured Mr. Adhikari that the State government would study the amendments and see if they were already contained in the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita (BNS).
The proposed Bill has provisions for capital punishment for those convicted of rape if their actions resulted in the victim’s death or left her in a vegetative state. The legislation also requires that investigation into rape cases must be concluded within 21 days of the initial report.
Opposition MLAs who participated in the debate asked why the State government had opposed provisions of the BNS, and also passed a resolution in the State Assembly against the Union government’s new criminal laws, when the new laws had stricter provisions for crimes against women.
BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul said the Kolkata Police did not register FIRs to ensure recorded crime remained low in the city. Ms. Paul said claims that Kolkata is the safest city had been exposed by the rape and murder of the doctor at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Meanwhile, protesting doctors of State-run hospitals on Tuesday met Kolkata Commissioner of Police Vineet Kumar Goyal after 24 hours of protests, and submitted a resolution demanding his resignation. The delegation of protesting doctors said that the Commissioner listened to them and said if his superiors asked him to resign, he would do so gladly.
In a related development, senior playwright Chandan Sen decided to return the highest honour in theatre, the ‘Dinabandhu Mitra Puroshkar’, in solidarity with the protests raging across the State. Mr. Sen said his father was a doctor at a government hospital, and said that he would rather be part of the doctors’ movement for justice than accept the award. Biplab Bandyopadhyay, another senior theatre artist who received the ‘Natya Academy Award’ from the West Bengal government, has also returned his award.
What does the new bill entail
The Bill amends section 64 (1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 where for the punishment of rape the words, “rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, but which may extend to imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and shall also be liable to fine” have been substituted with words “rigorous imprisonment for life, which shall mean rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of the person’s natural life and fine, or with death”.
The legislation also amends Section 64 (2) of BNS which deals with rape of a police officer or a public servant, or member of armed forces or management of a staff of a jail or remand home among others. The punishment has been amended with words “rigorous imprisonment for life, which shall mean rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life and fine or with death”. The Section 64 (2) of BNS provides with “rigorous imprisonment for life, which shall mean rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life and shall also be liable to fine”.
The legislation also amends section 66 of the principal Act, for the words “rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 20 years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life of with death,” the words “with death” shall be substituted. Section 66 of BNS deals with the punishment for causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state of a victim.
