Bengal Governor refers 'Aparajta Bill' for President's consideration

Kolkata, Sep 6 (IANS) West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has referred the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill to the office of President Droupadi Murmu for the latter’s consideration, the Raj Bhavan announced on Friday.

The bill, which seeks the death penalty for convicts in rape and murder cases or in cases of rape where the victim is left in a vegetative state irrespective of the age of the victim in the state, was passed by the West Bengal Assembly unanimously through voice-vote on September 3.

The bill was brought in the wake of the recent rape and murder of a junior doctor at state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata.

According to a statement issued by the Governor’s office, the bill has been referred for Presidential consideration on receipt of the mandatory technical report from the state government.

However, at the same time, the Governor’s office expressed its displeasure over the failure of the state Assembly Secretariat in providing the text of the debates and its translation as required under the rules.

“At the end of acrimonious debates, mutual accusations, political threats and ultimatum, the Chief Minister had threatened dharna outside of Raj Bhavan if the Bill is not assented to by the Governor. The Governor took umbrage at the intimidatory stance of the CM and admonished the government for their failure in observing legal and constitutional propriety,” the statement read.

On Friday, as per the statement, newly-appointed Chief Secretary Manoj Pant met the Governor and in the afternoon the mandatory technical report was made available to the office of the Governor by the state government.

“The Governor has reserved the Bill for consideration of the President of India. Now West Bengal Bill will join the lot of similar other Bills pending with the President from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh,” the statement read.

The Governor at the same time has pointed out the “omissions and commissions” in the “hurriedly passed bill” and cautioned the state government not to “act in haste and repent at leisure”.

“The Governor said that people cannot wait till the bill is implemented. They want justice and justice should be given to them within the framework of the existing law. The government should act effectively, people should get justice. It is the government’s duty to wipe the tears of the bereaved mother who lost her dear daughter. The Governor pointed out the glaring defects and lapses in the Bill and advised the government to do their homework instead of going in for knee-jerk responses,” the statement noted.

–IANS

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