Criminal Law Amendment Act 2018 and Various Case Laws

There has been various amendment in criminals laws like Indian Penal Code, 1860 ; Indian

evidence act, 1872; code of criminal procedure, 1973, protection of children from sexual

offence act, 2012. But two major changes in these laws can be seen in Criminal Law

Amendment Act, 2013 also known as “ Nirbhaya Act” and Criminal Law Amendment act,

2018. Both of these amendments were a consequence of barbaric incidents of rape which led

in making anti-rape laws more stringent.

The infamous Nirbhaya Rape Case gave birth to the Criminal Law Amendment act, 2013.

This case is based on a death of a 23-year old woman in a bus after being raped by six men

(including juvenile) and brutally assaulting her with an iron rod in a moving bus in the city of

Delhi. justice to the victim was provided after 8 years where the four convicts were hanged to

death in Tihar Prison.

*below is the link of the video which is explaining the incident of Nirbhaya rape case.

The video is not completely updated and doesn’t include the final judgement of the

court*

https://youtu.be/NpNFM5AArbg

In 2018, two other dreadful incidents of rape i.e. the infamous Kathua Rape case and the

Unnao rape case were witnessed which shook the conscience of the entire nation and led to

the enactment of Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 has brought significant changes in the criminal

law of the country. These amendments have the objective of making anti-rape laws more

severe so as to decrease the rate of crime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl3PkxkTchI&feature=youtu.be
This video talks about the changes in rape related provisions in IPC and CrPC.

Section 376 (1) IPC- The quantum of punishment for rape has increased from minimum 7

years to 10 years. In 376(3) IPC, Punishment for rape on a woman under sixteen years of age

has been added along with twelve years of age where the imprisonment of a minimum twenty

years which may extend to life imprisonment and in case of 12 years even extend to death

penalty. Moreover, Section 376DA and 376DB have been added by the amendment which

deals with punishment for gang rape on a woman under sixteen years and twelve years

respectively.

There have also been simultaneous amendments made in CrPC.

If a person is accused of rape on a woman of under sixteen years of age, he shall not be

granted anticipatory bail under Section 438 by a High Court or a Court of Session.

It has also provided for speedy trial and investigation as the investigation has to be

mandatorily completed within two months and the appeal in rape cases has to be disposed

within six months.

Under Sec 439 of the code, High Court or the Session Court has to give notice to the public

prosecutor within 15 days of which it receives the bail application of an accused of raping a

girl under 16 years of age. It also mandates the presence of informant or a person authorized

by him mandatory during the hearing of bail application of the accused in such cases.

There also has been some more changes made in other acts due to the enactment of Criminal
Law Amendment Act, 2018. They are:

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012

Section 42 of the Act which deals with alternative punishment has been amended to include
Sections 376AB, 376DA, and 376DB.
The Evidence Act, 1872

Section 53A and Section 146 have been amended to make the provision of the Act to be in
consonance with the amendments in other Acts

The below video provides an overview of all the changes that occurred due to the enactment

of criminal law act in 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU2QTOygHeQ&feature=youtu.be

Kathua Rape Case- it was a case of child rape where an 8-year-old girl, Asifa Bano was

abducted, raped and murdered in Kathua, a district of Jammu and Kashmir. It has been

alleged that she was kept in a Shrine for several days and raped continuously and later

murdered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R78cl1nDUg

Unnao Rape Case- Another rape case where a teenage girl accused an MLA of raping her in

the year 2017. She tried to set herself on fire in front of the MLA’s residence in Unnao,

northern Uttar Pradesh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW-SuagWyhA

Another recent case of rape was Priyanka Reddy Case where a veterinary doctor was raped,

smothered and burnt by four men. The below video explains the complete story and the

background of Priyanka Reddy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnYM28ReIUo&feature=youtu.be

ISHITA AGARWAL