President of India Pranab Mukherjee Gave Assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 3 January 2013 agreed to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 for sharpening the laws against sexual assault. The President mandated harsher punishment such as death penalty for the offenders in such cases where the victim either dies or lands into the vegetative state. The amended law would come into force almost immediately. 

What does the ordinance include?

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 which is agreed to by the President introduced stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks as well as disrobing of women. These crimes were given the status of specific offences under the Indian Penal Code. The ordinance was approved by Union Cabinet of India on 1 February 2013. 

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 comprises of various recommendations from the JS Verma committee as well.
 
The ordinance is an impact of the Delhi gangrape which took place on 16 December 2012 in a moving bus. The ordinance brought changes to the clauses of already-existing criminal law by making amendments in Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Evidence Act.

How will the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 be converted into law?

Even though the nod of the President brought these changed provisions of law in force, but now the Government will also have to get it passed in the Parliament within six months, i.e., by August 2013. The government of India decided to discuss or modify, if required, this ordinance during the upcoming budget session which will begin from 21 February 2013 as well. 
 
The new provisions will be presented in the Parliament as official amendments to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012 that was introduced in December 2012. This is a pending legislation which at present is being examined by the parliamentary standing committee that will meet on 4 February 2013.
 
Impact of the President’s assent

The main opposition party BJP welcomed this move. However, the women's rights activists were unhappy over these provisions because of refusal of the Government to include marital rape under the definition of an offence and also for not holding the command officers accountable for such offences like rapes. 

Going beyond the JS Verma committee

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 goes beyond the recommendations of Justice Verma committee to prescribe capital punishment for those rape cases where victim’s death is involved or under a situation where the victim is pushed to coma. The ordinance considers such cases as rarest-of-rare and so awards capital punishment for it. 

Also, the ordinance for such cases prescribed a minimum sentence of 20 years, extendable up to life imprisonment until natural life of a convict.

PERSONS IN THE NEWS (NATIONSL)

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A. Raja

Former telecom minister from DMK, after spending nearly 15 months in the Tihar Central Jainl in New Delhi, facing trial in the 2G Spectrum allocation case, was granted bail by a special CBI court on May 15, 2012.

Alex Paul Menon

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Bangaru Laxman

Former BJP president was sentenced to four-year rigorous imprisonment by special court of CBI on alleged corruption charges.

Balwant Singh Rajoana

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The former Chief Minister of Karnataka, B.S. Yeddyurappa,  was given mjor reprive by  the Karnataka High Court on Bangalore, March 7, 2012  and quashed a portion of the Lokayukta report accusing him of corruption in grant of mining leases in favour of two companies, the sanction given by the governor to prosecute him based on the report, and the FIR registered by the Lokayukta police against him.

Jhina Hikaka

37 year old Tribal MLA of Biju Janta Dal  from Odisha was kidnapped by Maoist but later was released in Koraput.

Madhuri Gupta

Suspended Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta arrested over 21 months ago allegedly for passing country's sensitive information to Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI, was on January 11, 2012 granted bail by a Delhi court. Gupta, 55, was arrested on April 22, 2010 by the Speical Cell of Delhi Police. She was posted as Second Secretary (Press and Information) in the Indian High Commission in Islambad.

Medha Patkar

Social activist Medha Patkar on February 8, 2012 declined the Karnataka government's Basava Puruskar 2010 on grounds' of 'disagreement with certain State policies and inability of the government to deal with mining scam and other scandals.

Mayawati

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Sachin Tendulkar

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 Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh also known as the Waterman for his efforts at water harvesting and has submitted his resignations to the Prime Minister as the chairperson of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) body. 

Roddam Narasimha

Eminent aerospace scientist Roddam Narasimha on February 24, 2012 resigned as a member of the Space Commission in protest against the blacklisting of scientists involved in the controversial spectrum deal between ISRO's commercial wing Antrix and Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia.

R. Rishi

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 Sam Pitroda

Sam Pitroda, advisor to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was on May 18, 2012 conferred with an honorary degree by New York University's Polytechnic institute, which is considered among the U.S. most prestigious and oldest private schools specialsing in engineering and technology.

VRS Natarajan

The Government on June 11, 2012 put the CMD of BEML VRS Natarajan under suspension following a recommendation by the CBI that he should be kept away from the post to ensure fair investigation. CBI is probing alleged irregularities committed in the supply of Tatra trucks to the Army by BEML.