State’s 2021 Shakti Act for crimes against women still to get central nod

The Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, which includes harsh punishments for crimes against women, is unlikely to receive approval from the central government due to objections raised by various ministries. The Act overlaps with existing central laws and raises concerns about data privacy and violation of the right to privacy. The state government plans to request approval from the central government again.

NAGPUR: Two years after it was passed by both houses of the state legislature, the Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Act is unlikely to get assent from the central government anytime soon. Several ministries have raised objections to the provisions in the Act, stating that they overlap with the provisions of existing central laws.

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According to officials from the home department, despite the replies sent to various queries raised by the central home ministry, the law has not received final approval. “The Centre has expressed reservations vis-a-vis certain provisions in the law,” said an official. “For one, there’s the name. None of the country’s Acts have regional nomenclatures.”

More importantly, the central government has reservations about issues such as location-tracing and retrieval of data from the mobiles of the victim and the accused, which are among the provisions in the Shakti Act. “The data privacy bill introduced in Parliament has provisions that could go contrary to these provisions in the state Act,” said the official. “Location-tracing needs special permission while violation of the right to privacy is a sensitive subject that cannot be easily touched.”

The central government has also stated that the provisions of the Act overlap with other laws such as the Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Information and Technology Act. “The ministry of electronics and information technology has taken strong objection to the overlapping provisions,” he said. “Although we have replied to their queries, sanction for the Act is unlikely, as the issues raised by various ministries are fundamental in nature.”

The officer added that the Disha Act passed by the Andhra Pradesh government in December 2020 had also not received the Centre’s nod. Maharashtra’s Shakti Act is modelled on Andhra Pradesh’s Disha Act, and has very stringent punishments for crimes against women, much harsher than the existing laws.

Deputy chief minister and home minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday that the state government would once again request the central government for its approval. “The criminal justice system works on the rulings given by the Supreme Court which interprets the laws,” he said. “The central government reviews the overall impact on the justice system. Some of the ministries are not in agreement with the provisions in the Disha Act.” Fadnavis said the central government had proposed changes in the IPC and CrPC and had sent the drafts to the state government.

The Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Act has a provision of death penalty for rape and has increased the quantum of punishment for acid attacks on women and sexual attacks on minor girls. It has made it mandatory for a probe to be completed in 30 days of the complaint being registered. It also has provisions to deal with crimes against women on digital and social media platforms.