Mumbai: Moving one step closer towards legislating an Act akin to the Disha Act passed by Andhra Pradesh, to check atrocities against women, the Maharashtra government has constituted a committee to prepare a draft. Senior Indian Police Service officer and in-charge of the Maharashtra Police Academy (MPA) Aswati Dorje has been appointed as the head of this committee.
"The committee has been asked to submit its report in the next 10 days," tweeted Satej Patil, minister of state for home, sharing a tweet of the government order. Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had visited Andhra Pradesh on February 20 to study their Disha Act. On Sunday, Deshmukh announced that a committee would be set up to prepare the draft of a similar legislation. "The committee will submit its report by March 30," he had then said. But on Tuesday, his deputy Patil tweeted about the appointment of a committee with a 10-day deadline. Dorje, special inspector general and currently director of the MPA, Nashik, will head this committee. She is the daughter of well-known Malayalam film producer and director Adoor Gopalkrishnan. Niyati Thaker Dave, deputy police commissioner, Zone 5, Mumbai, has been appointed a member of this committee. She has worked in Parbhani and Chandrapur as district superintendent of police. V M Bhat, deputy secretary in the home department has been appointed the secretary of this committee.
"If needed, this committee can appoint one member from a citizens group or any legal expert as a member. If anyone has a suggestion about this Act, they can email me at satejpatiloffice@gmail.com," Patil tweeted.
Key features of Andhra's Disha Act, 2019
It envisages the completion of investigation in a week and a trial in 14 working days, where there is adequate conclusive evidence, and reducing the total judgment time to 21 days, from the existing four months. The Act also prescribes death penalty for rape crimes where there is adequate conclusive evidence, and this provision has been made by amending Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860. In cases of harassment of women through social/digital media, the Act prescribes two years’ imprisonment for the first conviction and four years for the second, as well as subsequent convictions. For this purpose, a new Section 354 E will be added to the IPC, 1860.
