Death for repeat offence not knee-jerk reaction to Delhi gang-rape case: Maha govt to HC

The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court Friday that the criminal law amendment introducing death penalty for a repeat offence of rape was not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the Delhi gang-rape incident.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni stated this in response to the defence's argument in the Shakti Mills rape case challenging the validity of IPC section 376(E).

Kumbhakoni said the amendment was "well thought out" and not a "knee-jerk reaction".

Advocate Yug Chaudhry, who represents three convicts in the case who have been awarded death sentence, had argued that section 376 (E) is arbitrary and does not prescribe a punishment proportional to the crime.

The amendment was passed in haste following the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, he had said.

Kumbhakoni told a bench of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and Revati Mohite-Dere that the amendment was brought following the recommendations of an experts committee in the aftermath of the Delhi gang-rape, and passed by Parliament after due deliberation.

Its purpose was to introduce a punishment proportional to the offence of repeat rape, Kumbhakoni said.

Advocate Abad Ponda, serving as amicus curiae (lawyer appointed by the court to assist it), backed his argument.

He cited police records and the National Crime Records Bureau data to show that the rate of crime against women had risen consistently since 1971 and "reached alarming levels".

"Therefore, it was essential to bring about an amendment to ensure that a strong message was sent out to society," Ponda said.

In April 2014, a sessions court here convicted five persons for gang-rape of a photo-journalist at Shakti Mills Compound in Central Mumbai.

Of them, Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali and Salim Ansari got the death penalty under the newly introduced section 376 (E) as they were convicted in a previous case of gang-rape.

They have challenged constitutional validity of the section 376 (E) before the high court.