Bengal anti-rape bill sent back, says TMC
'Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is the driving force behind the Bill. While she wants stringent punishment for people involved in atrocities on women, the Bharatiya Janata Party has proved by returning the Bill that it doesn't want death penalty for such offenders,' Trinamool Congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said.
Governor C V Ananda Bose referred the Bill to President Droupadi Murmu for review on September 6 last year, three days after the assembly unanimously passed the Bill amid a nationwide row over the rape and murder of a junior doctor inside Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
Drafted at the behest of the chief minister, the Bill seeks changes in Sections 64, 65, 66, 70 and 71 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The Bill also proposes amendments to various sections of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Section 64 of BNS says punishment for rape 'shall not be less than 10 years'; section 65 says punishment for raping a minor under 16 shall be rigourous imprisonment 'not less than 20 years'; section 66 says punishment for injuring a woman leading to death or persistent vegetative state shall be death or no less than 20 years of rigorous imprisonment; section 70 says punishment for gang rape shall be no less than 20 years of rigorous imprisonment; and section 71 says repeat offenders previously convicted under sections 64 or 65 or 66 or 67 shall be punished with either death penalty or imprisonment for rest of natural life.
A delegation of TMC Parliament members met the President in February seeking her assent to the Bill while it was being studied by the Centre.
Neither the Raj Bhawan, through which the Bill was sent back, nor West Bengal assembly speaker Biman Banerjee commented on the issue on Friday.
Assembly officials aware of the details said that while returning the Bill on Thursday for further review by the state, the Centre wrote in its note that punishments proposed for some of the crimes mentioned in the document clashed with existing provisions in Sections 63, 64 and 65 of the BNS which replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2023.
The Constitution says that since criminal law falls under the Concurrent list, both the state and central legislatures have the authority to make amendments. States can enact their own laws as long as they are not in conflict with Central legislation. In cases of conflict or repugnancy, the Central law takes precedence. However, if a state law that has a conflict with a Central legislation receives the President's assent, it becomes effective within that state, the Constitution says.
Union minister of state and former Bengal BJP unit president Sukanta Majumdar countered Kunal Ghosh, saying the Constitution does not empower a state government to enforce independent laws prescribing the death penalty.
'There is no such provision. The Constitution says that when a state's law confronts or contradicts a Central law then the latter always prevails. Unlike TMC, we obey the Constitution,' Majumdar said.
The chief minister addressed the assembly when the Bill was tabled for discussion.
'The Bill seeks to ensure prompt investigation, prompt punishment and prompt justice,' she said during the debate.
The BJP backed the Bill but leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari asked whether the state followed constitutional norms while framing it. In response, Banerjee said: 'Please tell the governor to sign the bill so that it can be sent to the President for assent. We will see how law is not framed even after that.'
After the Bill was sent to the governor, his office sought the text of the debates. The assembly secretariat furnished the details on September 6 after chief secretary Manoj Pant met the governor.
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