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An overview of the key recommendations made by the justice verma committee and the subsequent changes made to the indian criminal law through the criminal law (amendment) act, 2013. It covers the amendments made to the indian penal code, code of criminal procedure, and the indian evidence act, focusing on provisions related to acid attacks, sexual offenses, and the protection of victims. The document also discusses the criticisms of the amendment, such as the lack of gender-neutrality and the non-inclusion of provisions for marital rape. Additionally, it highlights the further amendments made through the criminal law (amendment) act, 2018. The document serves as a comprehensive resource for understanding the legal reforms and their impact on addressing crimes against women in india.
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August 9, 2022 9912
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This article is written by Pragya Agrahari of Amity Law School, Lucknow. This article provides a detailed analysis of the changes made by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 in various statutes, the reasons behind the amendment and its criticism.
It has been published by Rachit Garg.
ļ· Introduction ļ· Reason behind the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 o Nirbhaya Case [Mukesh and Anr v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Ors] ļ§ Facts of the case ļ§ Charges framed on the accused ļ§ Judgement o Justice Verma Committee ļ§ Key recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee ļ· Key changes made after the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 o Indian Penal Code, 1860 ļ§ Acid attack ļ§ Sexual offences ļ§ Rape ļ§ Provisions for the authorities o Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ļ§ Relief measures for the victims of sexual offences ļ§ Measures taken to make the provisions more stringent o Indian Evidence Act, 1872 ļ§ Exclusion of previous sexual experiences in evidence ļ§ Presumption of the absence of consent ļ§ Nature of the questions asked in cross-examination ļ§ Provision for the dumb witnesses o Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 ļ· Points of difference between the recommendations of the Committee and the changes made under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 ļ· Criticisms of the Amendment o Not a gender-neutral law o Non-inclusion of provisions for marital rape o Non-debarment of politicians charged with sexual offences ļ· Other amendments to Criminal Law o Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 ļ· Conclusion ļ· Frequently Asked Questions o Which statutes were amended under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013? o In the backdrop of which incident was the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 enacted? o Who headed the Committee which was formed to look into the needed amendments in the criminal law after the Nirbhaya case? o What are the provisions added to the Indian Penal Code, 1860 after the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013? o What are the major criticisms of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013? ļ· References
Introduction
Facts of the case
This case is famously known as the Nirbhaya case. On 16 December 2012, a 23-year-old woman, a medical student, was gang raped by six men on the bus. She had boarded with a male friend on the way home. The six men included a driver and a juvenile. Firstly, the men started abusing them, passing obscene remarks, and then they assaulted her male friend and dragged her to the back of the bus to commit rape. She was brutally beaten and raped, and the perpetrators inserted a rod into her body and then, both of them were thrown naked in the middle of the highway. On 29th December 2012, the woman, named Nirbhaya, succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Singapore due to multiple organ failure, internal bleeding, and cardiac arrest. The Honāble Justice Dipak Misra has described this story as ā from a different world where humanity has been treated with irreverence .ā
Charges framed on the accused
The following charges were framed against the perpetrators:
Judgement
The Court, in its judgement, convicted four of the six accused of the said charges. The convicts were sentenced to the death penalty. The proceedings
were abated against the accused, Ram Singh, who committed suicide during the trial. The juvenile involved in the case was tried separately under the Juvenile Justice Board and was convicted and sent to a reformation home for three years. The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence confirmed by the High Court as the aggravating factors in the case outweighed the mitigating factors. Moreover, all the appeals of the accused were dismissed by the court. The Court held this case in the category of āthe rare of the rarest,ā a doctrine established in the case of Bacchan v. State of Punjab (1980), keeping in view the gravity and heinousness of the way in which the crime was committed.
Justice Verma Committee
After this incident, the government instituted the Committee headed by Justice J.S. Verma to look into the needed amendments in the criminal law to make laws providing for the protection of women more stringent and to add various aspects that were required considering the rise in the number of cases of crimes committed against women. It was constituted on 23rd December 2012 and committed to submitting the Committee Report in 30 days, in view of the urgency and promptness that the Nirbhaya case demands. The basic purpose of this Committee was to recommend amendments in the criminal law to provide speedy trials in cases, especially crimes against women.
Key recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee
throw acid. It means a person can now use the right to private defence in the case of an acid attack.
Sexual offences
This Amendment inserted four other sexual offences in view of the rising statistics of sexual harassment cases in the country. These are-
There are some exceptions to this offence; that is, these acts will not amount to āstalkingā if the man proves his act for the following reasons-
Rape
This Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 widens the ambit of the offence of ārapeā so as to provide harsher punishments for the more grievous acts. It also enlarged the provision to cover certain non-penetrative acts like oral sex and inserting any object or any other part of the body into a womanās body as an offence under the definition of ārapeā under Section 375. Although under Section 376, the punishment for the offence of ārapeā has not been enhanced, after the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2018, it was later increased to a minimum of 10 years imprisonment, which may extend to life imprisonment. However, this Amendment of 2013 has added provisions and enhanced punishment for more grievous forms of rape like-
Section Offence Punishment
Section 376A
Causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state of the woman
Rigorous imprisonment for a minimum of 20 years which may extend to life imprisonment till the remainder of the personās life or death sentence.
Section 376B
Sexual intercourse by the husband during separation
Imprisonment for a minimum of 2 years which may extend to 7 years and a fine.
Section 376C
Sexual intercourse by a person in authority (fiduciary relationship, public servant, jail authorities, institutions for women and children, or hospital authorities)
Rigorous imprisonment for a minimum of 5 years which may extend to 10 years and a fine.
Section 376D Gang rape Rigorous imprisonment for a minimum of 20 years, which may extend to life imprisonment till the remainder of a personās
statements of the victim to be done by only a female police officer. In addition, Section 154 also provides that if the victim is mentally or physically disabled, then for the comfortability of the victim, the recording of statements should be done at their residence or any other convenient place in the presence of an interpreter or special educator, and that the recording should be videotaped. Section 164 also added the provision for the assistance of an interpreter or special educator and videography of the statements. Moreover, it also held the statements under Section 164 to be considered as statements in lieu of examination-in-chief that can be cross-examined at the time of trial.
Measures taken to make the provisions more stringent
Indian Evidence Act, 1872
The important provisions which were added or substituted in the Act after the Amendment are as follows-
Exclusion of previous sexual experiences in evidence
Section 53A was added in the Act which declares that during prosecution for sexual offences, the character of the person or the previous sexual experiences of the victim is irrelevant as the evidence for the consent or quality of the consent of the victim.
Presumption of the absence of consent
Section 114A was added in the Act, which states that it was sufficient for the victim of the sexual offences to state before the court in her evidence that she had not consented to the sexual intercourse so as to presume the absence of consent in the case.
Nature of the questions asked in cross-examination
Section 146 of the Act was amended to include the provision which states that no questions can be asked from the victims of sexual offences during cross-examination which are immoral in nature or which are related to previous sexual experiences of the victim so as to prove the consent or test the quality of the consent by the victim.
Provision for the dumb witnesses
Under Section 119, the witnesses who are unable to communicate verbally can give their statements in other ways, by writing, by signs, etc., which shall be deemed as oral evidence, and such witnesses should provide the assistance of an interpreter or special educator, and such statements shall be videotaped.
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,
2012
Section 42 of this Act was amended in order to declare that if the offence was committed under the POCSO Act and the same offence is also punishable under
In view of the recent cases of sexual assaults committed against males, transgenders or homosexuals, the Committee calls for the inclusion of the provisions which would provide relief to such victims. But this recommendation was rejected. The criminal law was criticised for being women-centric only. It left out such crimes committed against communities other than women. The current law sees only men as culprits and only women as victims, but the current scenario was different. According to one report released by the Ministry of Justice in the UK, of 473,000 adults being victims of sexual offences on average per year, around 404,000 are females and 72,000 are males. Despite these trends, this Amendment fails to provide gender-neutrality in the provisions of the respective laws.
Non-inclusion of provisions for marital rape
This Amendment was also criticised for not criminalizing āmarital rapeā, even after the recommendation from the Committee to do so. Section 375 carries an exception which states that sexual intercourse by a husband with his wife, not below 15 years of age, is not rape. The consequence of this provision is that it saves any man who forces his wife into sexual intercourse without her consent from liability. Therefore, many jurists call for striking down this exception, and this Amendment fails to do so.
In his verdict on the question of marital rape, Justice Shakdhar (Delhi High Court) argues that ā the fact that the rapist is the husband of the victim does not make the act of sexual assault any less injurious, degrading or dehumanising. Irrespective of who the perpetrator is, forced sex mars the woman-victim physically, psychologically, and emotionally.ā
Non-debarment of politicians charged with sexual
offences
The recommendation provided by the Committee includes the provision to debar candidates accused of sexual offences from contesting elections under the Representation of People Act, 1951, but the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 does not provide such provisions. The recent data from the affidavits of the candidates contesting elections in the states of Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa shows various candidates charged with serious offences. In Punjab, two were accused of rape cases and five were accused of outraging the modesty of
women. In Uttarakhand, one was accused of rape and four were accused of outraging the modesty of a woman. Similarly, in the state of Goa, one was declared a rape case and five were found to have outraged the modesty of women. Despite these facts, the Amendment Act overlooked the impact of such trends on society as a whole.
Other amendments to Criminal Law
Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018
This Amendment further makes the laws stricter in their nature and adds some more provisions in the criminal laws which were needed in view of the recent cases. Some provisions added to the Indian Penal Code are as follows-
Section 376AB
Rape of a girl under the age of 12 years
Rigorous imprisonment for a minimum of 20 years which may extend to life imprisonment till the remainder of a personās life or death sentence.
Section 376DA
Gang rape of a girl under the age of 16 years
Life imprisonment till the remainder of a personās life and a fine.
Section Gang rape of a girl Life imprisonment till the remainder of a personās life and a fine or
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 amends four laws, namely-
In the backdrop of which incident was the Criminal
Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 enacted?
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 was enacted in the backdrop of the Nirbhaya Gangrape case, which took place on the night of 16th December 2012 in Delhi.
Who headed the Committee which was formed to
look into the needed amendments in the criminal
law after the Nirbhaya case?
The Committee headed by Justice J.S. Verma was constituted on 23rd December 2012 to recommend the amendments needed in the criminal law.
What are the provisions added to the Indian Penal
Code, 1860 after the Criminal Law Amendment Act
2013?
The major provisions added in the Indian Penal Code, 180 after the Criminal law Amendment Act 2013 were:
What are the major criticisms of the Criminal Law
Amendment Act 2013?
The major criticisms of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 are-
References
