DISHA BILL, 2019: DETERRENCE FOR

SEXUAL OFFENDERS?
By Yash Jain, WB National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata
Awakened by the heinous and brutal rape in the outskirts of Hyderabad that shook
the entire country and made the legislatures realize the need for strict and stringent
laws for the punishment of rape and other sexual offences, the Andhra Pradesh
Assembly passed the Disha Bill, 2019. The Bill, derives its name from the given
name to the victim, a veterinary doctor who was raped and murdered in the
incident. Also known as the AP Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2019, this Bill
seeks to amend the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, for
‘heinous offences of rape’ and the Indian Penal Code, 1860, to strengthen the
provisions relating to crimes against women and children. 
Does the new law do enough for the victims?
Rape is the fourth most common crime in India but one of the least reported. The
victims pull themselves out of the process due to the sluggish and unsteady legal
system. It is often argued that the loopholes present in our legal system make it
easy for the perpetrators of such crimes to get away easily. The Disha Bill makes a
way to ease the process of delivering justice. It envisages the completion of
investigation within seven days of report and trial within 14 working days. The
implementation of the new law will ensure that justice be delivered within three
weeks of the happening of the offence as a contrast to the earlier 4-month time
frame decided by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act/Nirbhaya Act, 2013. 
The AP legislature exhibited iron hand towards those who commit crimes against
women and children by giving death penalty for rape and murder if adequate
conclusive evidence is found against them. Earlier the punishment was set to life
imprisonment and death penalty was reserved only for the ‘rarest of rare cases’.
The Bill provides only death penalty if conclusive evidence is found against the
convict, thus, terminating jail term. But the lawmakers left ambiguity in the term
“adequate conclusive evidence” as Indian laws provide punishment only in case
guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt. The Bill fails to define the term, which
will lead to problematic trials in courts as it will be difficult to analyse what will be
considered as conclusive and adequate evidence and what will not qualify this
mark. The question of whether just proving of assault on victims is sufficient or is
the technicality of the attack also to be proved, has been left unanswered.
What’s new under the Bill?
This Bill also amended provisions concerning the offences against children by
proposing prison term of 14 years which can extend up to life imprisonment for
sexual crimes as per the gravity of the offence against children. Earlier under the
Prevention Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, a prison term
of three to seven years was stipulated for such crimes. With the largest child
population in the world, it becomes the duty of the State to grant protection to
children by an expansive reading of Article 21. The framing of this Bill seeks to
prioritize the safety of children by easing the procedure for them to report the
crime and ensuring that recording evidence is done in a child-friendly manner.
The unique feature of the Bill is the punishment for harassment of women through
social media. In times of an ever increasing rate of social media crimes, the AP
government tried to address this concern. In the world of technology, the offence
may not just be committed physically but also virtually through social media. The
Bill contains provisions for offences which substantiate section 354D of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860, along with provisions to deal with all types of harassment
through social media and other electronic platforms. It also made the punishment
and investigation process more stringent and efficient. The Bill provides
imprisonment up to 2 years for harassment of women through mail, social media or
any other digital mode, which may extend up to 4 years if the offence recurs.
For ensuring speedy trial within three weeks, the government will establish
exclusive special courts in each district which will deal with offences of not only
rape but also felonies like acid attacks, stalking, voyeurism and all offences of such
nature under the POCSO Act, 2012. The Bill also directs the government to
constitute special police teams for investigating such crimes to ensure that
substantial evidence is found, and speedy justice is guaranteed. This is a pioneering
move towards a safer space for women and children as the Bill not only considers
rape as a serious offence but also incidents of acid attack and stalking as worthy of
rigorous punishment. 
A couple of years back, the Union government launched the National Register of
Sexual Offenders to maintain a record of first-time as well as habitual offenders.
While this record seems to be only on paper so far, the AP government has made
provisions for the ‘Women and Children Offenders Registry’, an online public
database of offenders which will also be available to the country’s law enforcement
agencies.
Challenges for the Bill
The Disha Bill, 2019 is the instantaneous response of the Government of Andhra
Pradesh to curb the injustice done to the female and minor victims of sexual
offences. The Bill intends to guarantee justice by ensuring speedy trial, amplified
punishment to the offenders and much more to provide justice. But are these
measures adequate to deliver justice? POCSO Act, 2012 prescribed the trial period
of sexual offences as one year, but a survey showed that in Delhi courts majority of
the cases are disposed in 2-3 years, and the situation is the same in most courts of
the country. The problem is in the enforcement of the laws as there is no system of
checks and balances which can review the performance of the courts. Once the Bill
has been passed and enacted, the responsibility is on the courts to ensure that
enforcement is done smoothly and steadily. But what if the court delays or ignores
to apply the provision of the law? This will result in indirect injustice, in which due
to the Court’s lethargic and sluggish functioning, the victims suffer injustice.
Also, the Bill reduces the time period of investigation to just one week which is
absurd seeing the efficiency of police system in this country. Rape and other sexual
offences are heinous in nature and such crimes require detailed investigation.
According to a report, after passing of the POCSO Act, 2012, there has been a
paucity of investigators and even if the investigators are made available,
investigating such crime within a week will be an enormous task leading to a hasty
trial. The Bill could have followed its predecessor laws on the point of
investigation period of one-month to deliver justice. In addition, the Bill’s
provisions of constituting special court for fast track justice delivery, remains
questionable considering the state of similar provisions under the Act of
2013 seeing the backlog of cases and the paucity of judges, the goal of disposal of
cases through special courts remains a distant dream. India, has a mammoth judge
to case ratio of 19.66 judges per one million people which is constantly rising, in
which case, creating a special court would only increase the burden on the present
courts. Instead the Bill could have continued with the provisions of fast track court
in which special benches could take up such matters urgently. The Bill also has
provisions for the appointment of a special public prosecutor. Twelve years back, a
similar provision was drafted under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, but it
proved to be an ineffective provision given its improper implementation by the
courts. So, the new Bill has a cluster of hurdles to cross before it becomes a
trailblazing move to curb sexual offences. 
That said, the AP Disha Bill, 2019 is a radical step towards an effective and
efficient justice system. With the increase in reporting of cases, this Bill has the
potential to ensure speedy disposal, which in turn will safeguard many such
victims to come out and report the offence. On an average, India witnessed only
25% conviction rate in all the sexual offence cases. Most of the accused are not
convicted mainly due to lack of evidence. This Bill has tried to address the need
for deterrence in the law by drafting provisions to ensure that conclusive evidence
is found against the offender. However, there are a bunch of laws and amendments
made to ensure justice while their actual impact on curbing the crime rate remains
questionable. Our laws require proper implementation at the ground level, and the
law enforcement agencies require more accountability. Taking these facts into
consideration, if the Disha Bill is properly implemented, it will undoubtedly serve
as a benefactor to the victims of sexual offences.