Will introduce bill on rape laws in Parl by 22 Mar: Ashwani Kumar

Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said on Tuesday that the government will bring the bill on rape to Parliament by 22 March, and there will be no further delay over differences.

“We are not going to allow the ordinance to lapse. We will try, and I give you an assurance, that it is our plan is to introduce the Bill in Parliament before 22 March for debate,” Kumar told CNN-IBN in an exclusive interview.

Amid persistant differences in the Cabinet, the tough law against rape and other crimes was on Tuesday referred to a Group of Ministers which held its first meeting and reported substantial progress in reaching a consensus.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) is expected to finalise its task tomorrow to pave the way for the Union Cabinet to consider the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 afresh on Thursday.

Dismissing any fundamental differences in the Cabinet over the bill, and terming it as only difference of perception, Kumar said, “We need to iron out the differences and hence Prime Minister Manmohan Singh deferred taking a decision.”

He said that Cabinet is not divided over issues like introducing voyeurism and stalking within the purview of the anti-rape law, but are worried about misuse of the law not just with regards to voyeurism and stalking, but also other serious offences. “There is need to make the law civil, so that the thanedar who enforces the law does not use this as an instrument of corruption and oppression.”