HC asks LG to apprise it about STF on women's safety

The Delhi High Court today asked the office of the Lieutenant Governor to apprise it whether any special task force (STF) on women's safety was in place in the national capital and if it did not exist then by when it would be set up.
"An affidavit be filed whether the Lieutenant Governor (LG) has constituted any task force with regard to the safety of women. If not, then within how many days the LG would be doing it," a bench of justices B D Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar said.
The court issued the direction when Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson, Swati Maliwal expressed her doubt over the existence of the task force, saying the LG has not even called a meeting with regard to the safety of women in the national capital in last one year.

The task force was established in 2013 following December 16, 2012 murder and gangrape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus here.
DCW was recently impleaded as a party in the matter after the commission moved an application for intervention in which it has made suggestions, like illuminating dark areas and setting up CCTVs in buses and bus stops to prevent crimes against women and children in the city.
The court was hearing a PIL initiated on its own after the December 16, 2012 gangrape case, in which it has been giving directions from time to time with regard to improving crime investigation and protection of women in Delhi.

On the issue of providing compensation to the victims of the heinous offences, the bench said that the scheme for the same be notified at the earliest and not later than two weeks.
With regard to additional police personnel on which the court had expressed anguish, it was told that 12,271 recruitments have been processed and the same is at the stage of receiving approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The court asked the ministry to file it progress report before the next date of hearing on January 25 next year.