The Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued a show cause notice against the principal secretary of the Maharashtra home ministry calling upon him to explain 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 whether they would be accepting a state committee's recommendations on preventing crimes against woman.
A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Girish Kulkarni stated that the government was supposed to inform the court of its decision by December 31, 2013. However, even after a few adjournments, no decision been presented before the court. The notice is returnable on September 29.
The state government was supposed to inform the court on whether it will be accepting recommendations given by the committee headed by former HC judge C S Dharmadhikari. 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 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 among Muslims. The committee feels it is one of the main causes of the hardships suffered by Muslim women.
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."
The notice was issued during the hearing of a suo-moto public interest litigation based on a news report carried by a daily highlighting the plight of a woman who was molested while travelling on a local train from Vashi early morning. Her complaint was not registered by the railway police.
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