2 months on, GoM yet to submit report on legal measures to ensure women safety

NEW DELHI: Two months have passed since the Delhi government has formed a group of ministers (GoM) to prepare a road map on legal measures to ensure women safety. It was asked to explore if age of juveniles involved in heinous crimes like rape may be lowered from 18 years to 15 years. However, the GoM, which was given a fortnight, is yet to submit its report.

The report itself is learnt to be “in the draft stage”, with the delay being justified on the ground that the mandate was “widened” later and so the fortnight period was relaxed. However, there was any such announcement over these two months.

Following the rape of two minors aged 2 and 4 years in October, the GoM, under deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and home minister Satyendra Jain, was given the mandate of examining whether the law can be amended to ensure death penalty or life imprisonment to those involved in raping minors and to lower the cutoff age of juveniles found guilty in such cases from the existing 18 years to 15 years.

The move had evoked sharp reaction from activists and legal experts. Activists who have already been opposing the Centre’s bid to bring down the juvenile’s age from 18 years to 16 years said the Delhi government’s proposal was a blow to the human rights movement. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal then said the GoM was formed to carry out a review based on ground realities.

Had the report come on time, it could have played a significant role in the case of the juvenile involved in the Nirbhaya gang rape case. The government also seems to be treading the path with caution by making it clear that it is bound by the court orders.

Sources told TOI that certain aspects, including the juvenile age, were still under scrutiny. The government is also now watching out for the course Parliament takes while debating the Juvenile Justice Amendment Bill during the winter session.

The juvenile in the Nirbhaya case, who is now 20 years old, has been moved out of the observation home after the high court refused to stay his release on Friday.

In keeping with the Delhi high court’s directions, he is learnt to have been kept under observation at a facility run by an NGO for the time being.