The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) disapproves of the ordinance issued
by the Central Government on the issue of sexual violence against women,
on both procedural as well as substantive grounds. When Parliament is
scheduled to meet in three weeks, it is against democratic norms to
issue such an ordinance. The ordinance rejects the Verma Committee
recommendations on issues like making rape a gender specific crime in
the law, on increasing the punishment to public servants guilty of
dereliction of duty, of increasing the punishment and also guaranteed
compensation for victims of acid attacks and is highly selective about
the other recommendations. The ordinance has thus done injustice to the
Verma Committee report and appears to be a diversion from the serious
issues raised of State culpability including on issues such as inclusion
of armed forces in the ambit of criminal law with a suggested
amendment in the law.
As far as the death penalty is concerned, the category of rarest of
the rare cases is already part of the legal framework and would include
cases of rape and murder also, which has been reiterated by Justice
Verma.
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