With curtailed powers, NCW paper tiger in Salman case

NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Women (NCW) is in the spotlight once again as all eyes are set on the decision the panel will take against Bollywood actor

NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Women (NCW) is in the spotlight once again as all eyes are set on the decision the panel will take against Bollywood actor Salman Khan for his ‘rape’ remark.

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Khan was summoned by the commission to appear before it on July 8, following his remark that the gruelling workout for his new movie Sultan left him feeling like a “raped woman”.

While the organisation is hopeful that Khan will respond to its summon, there is not much it can do if the actor does not turn up. Under the National Commission for Women Act, the women’s panel neither has the power to arrest nor penalise a person who does not turn up after being summoned.

Almost two years after the women and child development ministry proposed to amend the NCW Act and give it more teeth, it is yet to be approved by the Union cabinet.

The NDA government, instead, ended up diluting some of the key amendments proposed by the ministry.

The draft bill was referred to an inter-ministerial panel that dropped key provisions, including allowing NCW officials or any other gazetted officer to enter any building/place and seize documents related to the subject matter of the inquiry and power to arrest a person who fails to turn up after being summoned, on the lines of the National Human Rights Commission.

The panel just agreed to retain the provision to allow NCW to impose a penalty of up to Rs 5,000 if a person fails to turn up after being summoned.

“But till the amendments are approved, NCW will have to go by the existing provisions in the Act. In the existing law, NCW does not have the power to even penalise. This more often than not results in those summoned failing to turn up to attend the commission’s hearings,” said a WCD ministry official.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW) issued fresh summons to Khan on Thursday after he failed to appear before it for the second time to clarify his remark. The actor has now been asked to appear before the body on July 14. “Today, Salman was asked to come for the hearing at 4.30pm. However, he didn’t appear, nor did his lawyer. But we received a letter from his side where he said since he has been summoned by NCW too, there should be no duplicity,” MSCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar said. “We have not accepted this (the letter)...,” she added.