The Centre on Friday told West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that the existing laws were comprehensive and stringent enough to tackle crimes against women and urged her state government to enforce it in “letter and spirit”.
In a letter to Banerjee, Annapurna Devi, the Union women and child development minister, said that the West Bengal government was yet to operationalise an additional 11 fast-track special courts “in spite of the pendency of 48,600 rape and POCSO [Protection of Children from Sexual Offences] cases”.
The Centre’s comments came after the second letter Banerjee sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day earlier, seeking “stringent central legislation” with “exemplary punishment” for rape. The Trinamool Congress chief had said that she was yet to receive a reply from Modi on the “sensitive” matter.
Banerjee first wrote to the prime minister on August 22 on the “regular and increasing occurrence of rape cases throughout the country” in light of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The 31-year-old trainee doctor was found dead at the medical institute on August 9. The incident sparked protests across the country.
Earlier this week, in her first response to Banerjee, Devi had criticised the state government for its alleged failure to implement crucial safety measures for women.
On Friday, Devi referred to Banerjee’s second letter where the chief minister had noted that the state government had 88 fast-track courts.
Fast-track courts were not the same as the fast-track special courts, the Union minister said, adding that the latter were specifically dedicated to deal with cases pertaining to rape and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
In her letter on Thursday, Banerjee had also noted that only retired judicial officers could be posted as presiding officers in fast-track special courts as per the guidelines of the Centre.
In response, Devi said that the guidelines provided for one judicial officer and seven staff to work exclusively for the disposal of cases related to rape and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences.
“Hence, an additional charge of FTSCs [fast-track special courts] cannot be given to any permanent judicial officer or court staff,” the Union minister said. “This position was clarified earlier to the state of West Bengal.”
In the event of insufficient workforce, states and Union territories also have the option to engage judicial officers and court staff on a contractual basis, Devi added.
The Union minister added: “As regards, stringent legislations and exemplary punishment on heinous crimes like rape/rape and murder, I reiterate my earlier communication conveying that stringent punishments for rape/rape with murder already exist in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.”
If the state government followed the legislations brought in by the Centre in “letter and spirit”, it would create a lasting impact on strengthening the criminal justice system, bringing the perpetrators of such crimes to face consequences commensurate with the offence and also in ensuring justice to the victims or survivors, Devi said.
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