Mumbai: The Maharashtra cabinet has approved a draft bill called the ‘Shakti Act’ that has provisions for death penalty, life sentence and hefty fines against culprits committing crimes against women and children in the state.
Chied Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s office said that two bills — Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 2020, and Special Court & Machinery for Implementation of Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law, 2020 — will be tabled in the legislative assembly on December 14-15 to give shape to the law against perpetrators of crime against women and children, the Hindustan Times reported.
Modelled on Disha Act of Andhra Pradesh, the Shakti Act seeks to amend certain sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
Stringent punishment, including death penalty, is one of the significant features of the draft bill. Culprits will receive sentence of at least 10 years in prison, which may extend to life or be sentenced to death in cases which are ‘heinous’.
The other welcome aspect is a time frame being stipulated for completing investigation (within 15 days) and trial (within 30 days).
