Maha seeks to increase punishment for attacking public servant

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today introduced a bill in the state Assembly for enhancing the punishment for assaulting public servants to five years' jail term from the existing three years.
The bill amends relevant provisions in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
The punishment for 'voluntary causing hurt to deter a public servant from doing his duty (section 332 of IPC) and 'assault or use of force to deter the public servant from discharging his duty' (section 353 of IPC) will be five years, or fine, or both, the bill says.
These will be cognisable and non-bailable offences.

While presenting the bill, Fadnavis said there was increase in the number of such cases. Between 2011 and August 2016, 17,683 cases were registered under sections 332 and 353 of IPC.
The existing provisions were not effective to ensure security of public servants, the Chief Minister added.