Governor C V Ananda Bose returns Bengal rape bill after Centre flags concerns
KOLKATA: West Bengal governor C V Ananda Bose has returned the
Aparajita bill
to the Assembly for reconsideration, citing serious objections raised by the Centre regarding proposed changes to Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), according to a high-ranking Raj Bhavan source.
The Centre found that the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, passed in Sept 2024, contains changes in penal provisions for rape under multiple BNS sections, proposing "excessively harsh and disproportionate" punishments, sources said.
A major point of contention is an amendment to BNS section 64. The state bill increases the punishment for rape from the current minimum of 10 years to either imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's natural life or capital punishment.
The ministry of home affairs (MHA) reportedly deemed this as unduly harsh and inconsistent with principles of proportionality.
Another change that MHA has objected to involves the removal of BNS section 65, which prescribes stricter penalties for sexual assault of minors. According to sources, Union govt believe scrapping this clause weakens protections for the vulnerable groups and risks diluting the intent behind age-based classifications in rape laws.
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However, the clause that the Centre found most problematic is the one under section 66, making the death penalty mandatory in rape cases where the victim either dies or is left in a vegetative state.
The MHA raised constitutional concerns, arguing that removing judicial discretion in sentencing violated established legal norms and Supreme Court rulings, sources said.
State govt, however, said it had received no official communication either from the Centre nor the governor's office about these observations.
Earlier, bills similar to Aparajita, like Andhra Pradesh Disha Bill, 2019, and Maharashtra Shakti Bill, 2020 - which had mandatory death penalty for all rape and gang-rape cases - were passed unanimously by state legislatures, but did not get President's assent.
Trinamool Congress indicated the party would make it a political issue. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: "The returning of the Aparajita bill is unfortunate, deplorable and condemnable... This has proved that BJP is unwilling to impose maximum punishment in these cases, as their members are implicated in molestations and rapes."
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