The rules and regulations that maintain the discipline in any society are the “Laws”. These laws provide nuts and bolts for the society and tell how people must behave to form a better society. Law is considered the most important part of the society and is the pillar on which our society is established. But what if the laws made are not implemented properly? The fear of not committing the crimes will not come if we have strict laws instead the fear will come if we have the proper implementation of laws. It is only the stricter and proper implementation of laws that can convince a person for not doing a crime because than the person will think twice before committing any crime and will be in a constant fear of punishment. Stricter laws without proper implementation cannot act as a deterrent.
GROUND REALITY OF IMPLEMENTATION
Many countries in the world are lacking and are destroying their own well-established legal systems by poor enforcement and one of the biggest examples of this is India and this can be inferred from the increasing rate of crime in our society. Taking the example of increasing cases of rape in India we can get a better picture of this. Still after having so many strict laws for the offence of rape, the cases are continuously increasing. After the Nirbhaya rape case many amendments were enforced which made the punishment for rape stricter but does the scenario improved? No! Instead it became worse. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2013 annual report, 24,923 rape cases were reported across India in 2012 and the number increased to around 39,000 in 2016. Other than making laws the government has taken many steps like the abolition of khap panchayat which was having a very radical approach towards laws and towards woman. The Supreme Court of India has declared Khap Panchayat to be illegal but still we can see that in most of the backward rural areas it is still practiced. It is the implementation of the laws that tests its effectiveness in solving the community problems. The problem is not only about poor implementation of the women related laws but also with other laws like labor laws, environmental laws and this we can see from our day to day atrocities on laborers and the increasing problems related to environment despite of the facts that we are having strict laws for these matters also but again the biggest problem is poor implementation of the laws that resulted in several problems in our society.
ANALYSIS OF INCREASING RAPE CASES
After this rape case On December 23, 2012 a three member Committee headed by Justice J.S. Verma ,former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was constituted to recommend amendments to the Criminal Law so as to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for criminals accused of committing sexual assault against women. The Committee submitted its report on January 23, 2013. The Committee recommended that the gradation of sexual offences should be retained in the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC). The Committee was of the view that rape and sexual assault are not merely crimes of passion but an expression of power. Rape should be retained as a separate offence and it should not be limited to penetration of the vagina, mouth or anus. Any nonconsensual penetration of a sexual nature should be included in the definition of rape. The IPC differentiates between rape within marriage and outside marriage. Under the IPC sexual intercourse without consent is prohibited. However, an exception to the offence of rape exists in relation to un-consented sexual intercourse by a husband upon a wife. The Committee recommended that the exception to marital rape should be removed. Marriage should not be considered as an irrevocable consent to sexual acts. Therefore, with regard to an inquiry about whether the complainant consented to the sexual activity, the relationship between the victim and the accused should not be relevant. After that The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 was enforced which made the punishment of crimes against women is very strict in India. Section 354 (A) of IPC define the circumstances in which any act of man will result in Sexual Harassment and the person committing the offence shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to three years or with fine or both. Section 354 (B) of IPC define the assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe and the punishment include the imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine. Section 354(C) and Section 354(D) include offences of Voyeurism and stalking which also include rigorous imprisonment or fine or both. Section 375 of IPC defines rape and Section 376 defines the punishment for rape. And include various criteria in which the punishment can be rigorous imprisonment from five years up to life time till the time of person’s natural death along with fine. There are also provisions in section 376(E) for the death penalty for the rapist who has been previously convicted of an offence punishable under the section of 376.
Despite of such provisions the cases of sexual abuses are increasing, this indicates the clear picture of poor implementation. Many prominent personalities also talked about the problem of poor implementation of laws in our country. Rajasthan High Court stated “The country has adequate laws but problems arise when they are not implemented in letter and spirit and many people seek legal recourse when such problems arise.” Also Justice Gopal Krishn Vyas while addressing a workshop on the issue of land encroachment stated “The law of India is beautiful but for the lack of implementation of the legal provisions, problems arise.”
POSSIBLE SOLUTION
The laws are basically implemented according to the rules framed by the government. So it can be said that the rules made by the government are as important as the laws enacted by the parliament. But what if these rules are not proper enough to enforce the law in the society? That is one of the biggest reasons for improper implementation of the laws. Many laws are operational in our country so it needs a proper rulemaking process to ensure consistency between the intent of Parliament while making laws and implementation of these rules by the government. Leo Tolstoy also stated in his book War and Peace that “Writing laws is easy, but governing is difficult.” So now it’s the time for proper governing of the laws because there are already many laws on paper, now it’s time to implement them properly for better society and for creating the fear of punishment in the minds of criminals.
