New laws on rape: Before Bengal, Andhra and Maharashtra had also introduced the bill

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Aparajita Bill: The West Bengal Assembly has passed the 'Aparajita' bill which provides for the death penalty for rape. Earlier, the assemblies of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have also passed similar bills.

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Death Penalty For Rape: Protests are continuing against the rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. Given the public outrage, the West Bengal Assembly has unanimously passed a bill providing for the death penalty in rape cases. The bill passed on Tuesday provides for mandatory death penalty in rape cases where the victim dies or goes into a permanent coma. The Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Law Amendment) Bill, 2024 provides for the death penalty as the maximum punishment in all cases of rape.

The bill will be sent to the President for approval

The 'Aparajita' Bill amends the provisions of the Indian Justice Code, 2023 (BNS), the Indian Justice Security Code, 2023 (BNSS), and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) in the state to effect the proposed changes.

The 'Aparajita' bill will now be placed before the Governor of West Bengal. After giving his approval, he will send it to President Draupadi Murmu. The President will make the final decision on whether to allow the bill to be implemented or not.

Many other states have also passed such bills

Before West Bengal, similar bills were passed by the assemblies of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. But no bill has yet received the mandatory approval of the President.

Earlier, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in 2017 and the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly in 2018 had provided for the death penalty for rape or gang-rape of a woman 'up to the age of 12 years' (Sections 376AA and 376DA of the Indian Penal Code, 1860).

Andhra's Disha Bill and Maharashtra's Shakti Bill

In November 2019, a veterinary doctor was gang-raped and murdered in Hyderabad. Four of those arrested were killed in an encounter by the police on December 6 of the same year. In December 2019, the assembly unanimously passed the Andhra Pradesh Disha Act – the Criminal Law (Andhra Pradesh Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Andhra Pradesh Disha (Special Courts for Specified Offences against Women and Children) Bill, 2019.

Through this bill, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) were amended for the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Disha Bill provides for the death penalty for rape crimes, including rape against minors below the age of 16 years.

In 2020, the Maharashtra Assembly passed the Shakti Criminal Law (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill, 2020. The Shakti Bill also introduced the death penalty in rape cases and provided for a shorter timeline for concluding investigations and trials. The Shakti Bill also amended laws related to the IPC, CrPC, and POCSO.

Why is it important to get the President's approval?

The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution contains subjects on which both the Centre and the states can pass laws. Criminal law and criminal procedure are listed in the Concurrent List as Entries 1 and 2. The three bills – Aparajita, Disha and Shakti – amend criminal laws in such a way that they become inconsistent or ‘contrary’ to the original law passed by Parliament.

Article 254 of the Constitution says that amendments by states to central laws (such as the BNS, BNSS and POCSO) relating to subjects in the Concurrent List that are contrary to the basic law require the President’s assent to come into force. Without assent, laws passed by states will be void “to the extent of the repugnancy”.