Mumbai: The Indian Penal Code section that prescribes death penalty for repeat rape offenders was rightly introduced by the legislature to impose a deterrent against such crimes, the amicus curiae in the Shakti Mills gangrape case told the Bombay High Court on Monday.
However, the application of this Section 376 (E) in the present case could be questionable, the amicus told a bench of justices B P Dharamadhikari and Revati Mohite-Dere which was hearing a challenge to the constitutional validity of the provision through writ petitions filed by the three death row convicts in the Shakti Mills case.
Section 376 (E) of the IPC that provides for the death penalty for repeat rape offenders was introduced by the Centre through an amendment in existing laws in 2013 following the December 2012 gangrape case in New Delhi. Advocate Abad Ponda, appointed by the court as the amicus curiae to assist it in the case in 2014, told the HC that the section was in consonance with all legal and constitutional principles.
Earlier, during the hearing, the bench had asked the Union govt what was the purpose of introducing section 376 (E) of the IPC since another sub-section, sub-section A of section 376, already prescribed the maximum punishment of death for offences of rape.
