Justice Verma Committee report on reform in anti-rape laws

The Justice J S Verma committee which was set up to suggest ways to make rape laws stronger in the country (after the gruesome gang rape of a trainee physiotherapist in Delhi last month), submitted its report. 

Highlights of the report are:

a) New offences have been created and stiffer punishment has been suggested. The new offences include disrobing a woman, voyeurism, stalking and trafficking.

b) It has recommended enhancing the duration of punishment to up to 20 years in jail for rape leading to death or the victim being reduced to a vegetative state and life for gang rape. In case of gang rape leading to death, the person should be imprisoned for life. The present law provides for imprisonment to rapists ranging from seven years to life.

c) The panel sought amendments to Section 100 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the right of private defence, which extends to causing death.

d) The committee rejected the suggestion of chemical castration of rapists as it considered handing down such a punishment would violate human rights and that mutilation of the body is not permitted under the Constitution.

e) The committee has also touched upon marital rape and safety of women in conflict zones suggesting a review of the Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA) that can be used by the forces for exploiting women in areas of conflict.

f) According to the report the judiciary has the primary responsibility of ensuring fundamental rights through constitutional remedies. The CJI can take suo motu cognizance; social activists should assist the court. The Chief Justice of the high court of every state should device appropriate machinery for administration and supervision of these juvenile homes in consultation with experts in the field.

g) All marriages in the country -- irrespective of the personal laws under which such marriages are solemnised -- should mandatorily be registered in the presence of a magistrate and the magistrate will ensure that the marriage has been solemnised without any demand for dowry having been made and that the marriage has taken place with the full and free consent of both partners.

h) Medical examination of victims of sexual assault which were prepared on the basis of the best practices advised by global experts in the field of gynaecology and psychology. 

i) Trafficking of minor children must be made a serious offence. Trafficking must be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but which may also extend to 10 years.

j) There is also a suggestion to bar elected representatives from holding office or for candidates to file nomination for election if a court has taken cognizance of the charge-sheet filed by the investigating agency.

The Justice Verma Committee formed to look into crimes against women

·         ruled against recommending death penalty even in the rarest of the rare rape cases, and also did not favour lowering the age of a juvenile from 18 to 16.

·         The committee, which was tasked with suggesting legal reforms to deal with sexual assault cases, however said the minimum sentence for a rapist should be enhanced from 7 years to 10 and that life imprisonment must always mean jail for ‘the entire natural life of the convict’.

·         It has also recommended increase in quantum of punishment in cases related to crime against women and children, besides asking the government to consider forming a new constitutional authority like the CAG for dealing with issues related to education and non-discrimination of women and children.

·         Presenting the report on ‘Amendments to Criminal Law’, prepared within a month after consulting experts from India and abroad and going through suggestions made by various voluntary and government organisations, Mr. Verma said at a time when there were talks of abolishing the death sentence, the committee has “enhanced the punishment to mean the remainder of life”. An overwhelming majority of scholars and women’s organisations told the committee they were strongly against death penalty.

 “There is considerable evidence that the deterrent effect of death penalty on serious crimes is actually a myth. According to the Working Group on Human Rights, the murder rate has declined consistently in India over the last 20 years despite the slowdown in the execution of death sentences since 1980. Hence we do take note of the argument that introduction of death penalty for rape may not have a deterrent effect,” the Committee recommended.

The Committee also said that in the proposed Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2012, the minimum sentence for punishment for rape should be enhanced to a minimum of 10 years (currently it is 7 years) with maximum punishment being life imprisonment.

The Committee said castration would be unconstitutional and inconsistent with basic human rights treaties to expose any citizen without their consent to potentially dangerous medical side effects.

On the issue of reducing the age of a juvenile from 18 to 16, Mr. Verma said: “Assuming that a person at the age of 16 is sent to life imprisonment, he would be released sometimes in the mid-30s. There is little assurance that the convict would emerge a reformed person, who will not commit the same crime that he was imprisoned for (or, for that matter, any other crime).”

The Committee has criticised lack of reformatory and rehabilitation policies in jails and juvenile homes. “ We are completely dissatisfied with the operation of children’s’ institutions. It is time the State invested in reformation for juvenile offenders and destitute juveniles,” it observed.

 

The Supreme Court of India on 21 January 2013 banned the tourists to pass from Andaman Nicobar Trunk Road which passes through an area which is Jarawas habitat. The Andaman Nicobar Trunk Road leads to the Limestone Cave. A bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and H.L. Gokhale ordered that the directives of the court which were issued in 2012 should be followed strictly. 

Earlier, the Apex court had banned the tourism or commercial activities in 5-km radius of Jarawa Tribal Reserve which lies in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Supreme Court in its 2007 notification had declared the area up to 5-km radius of Jarawa Tribal Reserve as the Buffer Zone and had prohibited any person from entering into this Zone unless and until that person is a member of aboriginal tribe.

The Buffer Zone is the area starting from Constance Bay in South Andaman to Lewis Inlet Bay in Middle Andaman. No one is allowed to operate the commercial or tourist activities in the Buffer Zone. Also, no one is allowed to perform the activities which may be a danger to the security, interests or safety of the Jarawas. 
The bench of SC commanded that government officials, people living in that reserve as well as the vehicles which carry necessary commodities to Jarawas, would be allowed on this Trunk Road. 

Andaman and Nicobar Administration directed to file the affidavit 

The bench of justices additionally, also directed the Andaman and Nicobar Administration that they should file an affidavit as well as the detailed map which indicates the areas of Jarawas as well as the settlement of others.
 
The notification of 30 October 2007, in which the administration asked that ban should be imposed, was cancelled by the Calcutta High Court. However, on 2 July 2012 the Bench of Justices G. S. Singhvi and S. J. Mukhopadhaya had upheld the 30 October 2007 notification of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration to declare this 5-km radius area as the Buffer Zone and ban any commercial or tourism-related activities in that area. 

Who are the Jarawas?

The Jarawas are basically the indigenous tribes or adivasis of Andaman Islands, India. The present population of Jarawas is merely 250-400 people. It is said that the Jarawas have remained the inhabitants of the Andamans for thousands of years. Jarawa ancestors were thought to be the first successful migration of humans from Africa.

Legal Support to Jawaras 

•1965- Plan created for developing Andaman. Road was proposed to extract certain resources in the Jawara forest
•1973- Construction was started on the Grand Andaman Trunk Road
•2002- Supreme Court ordered to shut down the Grand Andaman Trunk Road
•2007- Court prohibited people from seeking entry into 5-km radius around Jawara reserve
•2012 July- Banned all commercial and tourism activities in the Buffer Zone
•2013- Ban notified

Bilateral Co-Operation Understanding in Water Resources Development and Management with Government of Rwanda

India and Rawanda have singed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral co-operation in Water Resources Development and Management. From Indian side it was Union Water resources Minister Shri Harish Rawat while from Government of Rawanda it was Dr. (Mrs.), Agnes M. KALIBATA, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources who were the signatories in a function held here in New Delhi yesterday.  The MoU specifies various areas of co-operation with focus on planning, design and implementation of marshland and hillside irrigation, watershed management, water governance, and training and capacity building of farmers and functionaries in the water sector.  It is also proposed to promote Joint Ventures between the private entrepreneurs of the two countries through mutual facilitation of investment procedures and for working out mechanisms and modalities for funding and technical assistance. The MoU provides for setting up a Joint Commission which would follow up the implementation of this MoU.  The objective of this co-operation is to realize the goal of achieving food security in Rwanda and thereby to promote further the already existing friendly relations between the two countries.