Hyderabad: Women constitute almost half of the country's population. However, an average of 87 reported cases of rape against them per day is a blot on the dignity of women and motherhood!
Seven years ago, the Justice JS Verma Committee pronounced the harsh truth that it is not the absence of laws but the lack of good governance and the lack of fear for rule of law that is responsible for the atmosphere of insecurity.
It is impossible to correct an anomaly by merely releasing guidelines or making amendments to acts without proper treatment to the disease from the root cause.
The Union Home Ministry has already issued clear instructions to the states on May 16, December 5 of last year and on the 5th of this month the strict action to be taken by the police in cases of crimes against women.
The Centre has recently clarified that without any consideration to the jurisdiction filing of FIRs in any police station is mandatory in cases of sexual assault on women.
Section 173 of the CrPC warns that the investigation must be completed within 60 days and that there will be severe penalties for negligence in the investigation. It indicates that the investigation should be monitored frequently through the ‘Investigation Tracking’ system after the registration of charges.
The Supreme Court, which ruled in 2013 that FIR registration was mandatory under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, issued eight directives that could guide the police machinery.
As long as the police are subjugated and are toeing the line of the political bosses, goons and criminals will indulge in atrocities on women at free will with the blind confidence and arrogance that they can go scot-free with political influence. Rather than reiterating the guidelines, they should be implemented with the iron will immediately.
If the 'perpetrators of heinous crimes' are not punished, the role of the investigating and prosecuting authorities in all such cases should be strictly scrutinized.
In 2014, the judge ruled that they should be held accountable and punished departmentally for wrongdoing. Since the governments failed to create the required machinery within six months as directed then, criminal activities are being perpetrated unabated.
None of the states has faithfully complied with the seven clear orders issued by the Supreme Court in 2006 in the Prakash Singh case that police reforms are necessary if the rule of law is to be upheld without neglecting criminals.
When criminal politics are practised with shameless boldness and when the police organization is subservient to it, how can social justice be achieved? That same year, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, VN Khare hinted at strengthening the criminal justice system with five powerful suggestions comparable to 'Panchasheel'. The first suggestion is to remove the prosecution from government control and establish an independent body similar to the Electoral Commission.
Another suggestion is for the independent criminal investigation. The third is that the testimony given to the police must be recorded before a judicial magistrate, given the value of key evidence, and submitted to the court before the trial of the case. While security to the witnesses is fourth, the last is to shift the power of appeal against acquittals to victims!
Citing the reasons for the minimum sentence, the Law Commission suggested as early as 2012 that the recruitment process of public prosecutors should be reformed.
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