Kolkata: Retired Supreme Court Judge Ashok Ganguly on Monday claimed 'Aparajita Bill', which prescribes death penalty for rape, is illegal and without any locus standi. The bill, which was passed in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly last month, had landed at Rashtrapati Bhavan via Raj Bhavan.
The former Supreme Court judge said, "I have not seen the entire bill. However, the bill provides for death penalty as the only punishment for rape and murder. It is constitutionally flawed. In a 41-year-old case, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had said that the only punishment in cases where there is only death penalty is constitutionally illegal. So why is the death penalty kept as the only option?"
The former judge claimed that the bill has been brought to divert people's attention from the main incident of RG Kar rape and murder.
Explaining the constitutional invalidity of the Aparajita Bill Ganguly said, "Article 303 of the old Penal Code contained the death penalty law. But, the father of the present Chief Justice of the Supreme Court had declared that law unconstitutional in a case when he was a judge. It was on record."
"He had then said that when judges have no discretion on whether to impose death penalty or imprisonment for life, then the order of sentence violates Article 14 and Article 21 of the Indian Constitution." Ganguly added.
Referring to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Ganguly further said, "The BNS Act mentions death penalty and life imprisonment or fine. She (Chief Minister) is trying to portray herself as progressive by giving away those two options. In fact, the RG Kar issue is in public forum. She is trying to turn that vision around."
He also added, "As many as 135 civilised countries in the world now do not have death penalty. The death penalty is a feudal system of punishment. They are trying to show themselves to be progressive by bringing that system back."
Slamming Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Ganguly said, "Instead of doing this, she should tell under which law the victim's family was led astray? According to which law, the police could not file an FIR even even after two hours? Under which law, the police gave wrong information? Why was the victim's body cremated in a hurry? According to what law did her police want to give money to the victim's family?"
The former Supreme Court judge also alleged that the police-administration of the state does not follow any law here.
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