Parliament on Thursday passed the Criminal law (Amendment) Bill, commonly termed as Anti-Rape Bill, with the Rajya Sabha voting for the legislation unanimously. The lok Sabha had passed it on March 19.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the “law will impact the society for years to come,” and assured the elders that the Government is open to improvement and further amend the “unique law.”
The Bill seeks to replace an Ordinance promulgated on February 3, which will expire on April 4. It seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Evidence Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Participating in the debate, Venkaiah Naidu (BJP), who headed Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home that examined Anti-Rape Bill, said the law is progressive but certain aspects of the bill are not discussed and some points are missing.
Jaya Bachchan (SP) termed the Bill as “anti-male” and said in order to provide justice to one part of the society, “you cannot be unfair to the other section. This Bill can be misused.”
Shivanand Tiwari (JD-U) took objection to portrayal of women as “objects of sex” in television advertisements and urged that the practice should be stopped immediately.
Najma Heptulla (BJP) said the Bill was being cleared in a hurry and asked the Home Minister to assure the House that the Bill would be discussed later. Vasanthi Stanley (DMK), V Maitreyan (AIADMK), Ashok Ganguly (Nominated), Bharatkumar Raut (Shiv Sena) and Smriti Irani (BJP)also spoke.