West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Friday referred the anti-rape bill Aparajita Woman and Child Bill, 2024 to President Droupadi Murmu for consideration. According to Raj Bhavan, the Bill was referred after the state government sent the necessary technical report to the Governor, for which the latter had rebuked the state administration on Thursday.
"On receipt of mandatory technical report from the Govt. of West Bengal, Governor has referred the Aparajita Bill for consideration of President of India. But the Raj Bhavan expressed its displeasure over the failure of the Assembly secretariat in providing the text of the debates and its translation as required under the rules. At the end of acrimonious debates, mutual accusations, political threats and ultimatum, the Chief Minister had threatened dharna outside of Raj Bhavan if the Bill is not assented to by the Governor," Raj Bhavan said in a statement. "The Governor took umbrage at the intimidatory stance of the CM and admonished government for their failure in observing legal and constitutional proprieties," it added.
The statement noted that the Chief Secretary had called on Bose today in the forenoon, following which the manadatory technical report was made available by the state by afternoon. "Governor has reserved the Bill for consideration of the President of India. Now West Bengal Bill will join the lot of similar other Bills pending with the President from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh," it said.
Governor Bose also underscored various omissions and commissions in Bill, which he said was "hurriedly passed". He also warned the Mamata Banerjee-led government to not "act in haste and repent at leisure". Stating that the people cannot wait till the Bill is implemented, Bose said: 'They want justice and justice should be given to them within the framework of the existing law. Government should act effectively, people should get justice. It is govt’s duty to wipe the tears of the bereaved mother who lost her dear daughter."
Pointing out at the "glaring defects and lapses" in the Bill, Bose advised Bengal govt to "do their homework instead of going in for knee jerk responses".
Guv Bose Slams Mamata Govt For Not Sending bill's 'Technical Report'
Bengal Governor slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's administration for not sending the technical report of the anti-rape bill, which is mandatory to send for the bill's approval. An official told news agency PTI that Bose was disappointed as it has been a regular practice of the state government to not send technical reports along with Bills, and then mounting the blame on the governor's office for not clearing them.
"The governor criticised the state administration for failing to attach the technical report along with the Aparajita Bill. As per rule, it is mandatory for the state government to send the technical report before a decision is taken on giving assent to the Bill.This is not the first time that the government has withheld technical reports and blamed the Raj Bhavan for not clearing Bills," the Raj Bhavan official told PTI.
Bose also rebuked the state for failing to do its homework on such critical matters and pointed out that the (Aparajita) Bill appeared to be a copy-paste of other similar Bills passed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Arunachal Pradesh, the Raj Bhavan official said.
The West Bengal Assembly on September 3 unanimously passed the 'Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024'. The Bill seeks capital punishment for rape convicts if their actions cause the victim's death or leave her in a vegetative state. It also calls for a life sentence without parole for other perpetrators.