Annapurna Devi who’s the Union Minister for women and child development has hit back at CM of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee over the 2nd letter which she had addressed to PM Modi over the women safety and also urged the Central Government to bring up stringent laws and legislation and punishment to deal with heinous crimes like Rape.
Central Government Counters Mamata Banerjee over FTSCs:
While replying to the 2nd letter, Union Minister Annapurna Devi countered Mamata Banerjee and said that the information which has been received from the High Court of Calcutta, the Government there has already established 88 Fast Track Courts which are not similar to the Fast Track Special Court which the Initiative of the Central Government.
The Minister also countered and said that the State Government has not implemented the Additional 11 Fast Track Special Court which was particularly meant for Rape and POSCO Cases. She said that despite there are 48,600 cases of rape and POSCO cases in West Bengal, the 11 Fast Track Special Court was not implemented.
She also termed the information contained in the letter of Mamata Banerjee as factually incorrect and also countered that this could be a direction to hide the delays in implementing the scheme of Fast Track Special Court.
She also responded to the appeal of the West Bengal CM for setting up of the Judicial officers permanently at Fast Track Special Court by replying that the guidelines of the scheme which provide for One Judicial officer and seven other staff members who would work particularly for the disposal of cases like POSCO and rape.
She in the letter said that there could be no extra charge given to the Fast Track Special Courts given to any permanent judicial officer or any court staff and this was also clarified to the West Bengal Government earlier.
The Union Minister also stated that in case of a lesser workforce, the authorities of the State and the Union Territories have an alternative to appoint the Judicial officers and Court staff on contractual basis as per the scheme of FTSC.
Centre Counters over Urge for Stringent Laws:
While countering the request of West Bengal CM for bringing more stringent laws to deal with Crimes against Women, the Union Minister said that the enactments and the legislations by the Central Government are stringent enough to deal with the crimes against women.
The Union Minister took a dig and said that if the State Government follows the legislations in ‘Letter and Spirit’ implying to be followed in real means then it would have a long-lasting impact and will also strengthen the criminal justice system which would also mean by ensuring that the perpetrators who commit such heinous crime to face the law and also ensuring that justice prevails for the victim or survivors.
The Union Minister also said that the stringent laws already exist under the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which already have stricter punishments like life imprisonment and death penalty for such grave crimes.
The 2nd letter to PM Modi:
The Union Minister has responded to the 2nd letter of Mamata Banerjee to PM Modi. The former had written a 1st letter to PM Modi, as the 2nd letter was written as a follow up to the 1st. Where she had focused on stringent punishments in heinous cases like rape. In the second letter, she expressed disappointment because she didn’t receive a direct response from PM Modi even though she acknowledged the letter of the Union Minister.
The RG Kar Case:
The letter war between West Bengal CM and the Central Government comes after the RG Kar case were the trainee doctor who was on 36 hours’ shift was allegedly raped and murdered on August 9th. The case is being probed by CBI.
