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Bombay High Court gives Maharashtra government ultimatum on women's safety recommendations

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The Bombay High Court (HC) on Monday gave the state government its last chance to take a call on the recommendations given by Dharmadhikari committee on women's safety. The court was hearing a suo-moto public interest litigation based on a news report carried highlighting the plight of a woman who was molested while traveling on a local train from Vashi early in the morning. Her complaint was not registered by the railway police.

A division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Girish Kulkarni refused to accept an affidavit tendered by the principal secretary of the home department, who was present in court. The bench said the government should first inform on whether the recommendations were being accepted or not.

The court said, "This committee was formed to give suggestions on women's safety. You (state) have not taken any decision even after three adjournments."

In August, the HC had issued a show cause notice against the principal secretary asking him why no action should be taken against him under the Contempt of Courts Act. The notice was issued after the government failed, despite several extensions, to inform the court of its final decision.

The state was supposed to inform the court whether it will be accepting recommendations given by the committee, headed by former HC judge C S Dharmadhikari, by December 31, 2013. Since then, there have been several adjournments in the hearing. Even on Monday, the government failed to do so.

Irked, the judges gave the government a last chance, and kept the matter for hearing in the end of October.

The committee has submitted three interim reports suggesting amendments for three sections under the Indian Penal Code. The committee had also suggested banning obscene material easily available on social networking sites and mobile phones. It recommended that political parties should not give election tickets to candidates who have past records of crimes against women. It also suggested that the government should reduce the age of juveniles from 18 to 15 years.

Those who willingly don't take steps to prevent crimes against women either by stopping it themselves or alerting the police should be considered for prosecution, it recommended.

The report also presses for a re-look at the Muslim Personal Law, which governs marriages. The committee feels it is one of the main causes of the hardships suffered by Muslim women.

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