The Andhra Pradesh cabinet, led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, has withdrawn the Disha Bill, a piece of legislation aimed at expediting trials and punishments for sexual offences against women and children. This decision follows advice from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which cited objections to specific provisions and highlighted that the BNS and BNSS already encompass stronger protections.

The Andhra Pradesh cabinet, led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, has withdrawn the Disha Bill, a piece of legislation aimed at expediting trials and punishments for sexual offences against women and children. This decision follows advice from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which cited objections to specific provisions and highlighted that the BNS and BNSS already encompass stronger protections.

The Andhra Pradesh cabinet, led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, has withdrawn the Disha Bill, a piece of legislation aimed at expediting trials and punishments for sexual offences against women and children. This decision follows advice from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which cited objections to specific provisions and highlighted that the BNS and BNSS already encompass stronger protections.

The Andhra Pradesh cabinet chaired by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has withdrawn the Disha Bill, which was first introduced in 2019 by the then YSR Congress Party. The Bill was introduced, and named after the victim of gang rape and murder in Hyderabad on November 27, 2019.

The Bill, which was formally known as the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was withdrawn in the wake of the Union government’s advice for reconsideration of the Bill.

What is Disha Bill?

The Bill proposed to implement fast-tracked investigations and trials of offences aimed to complete investigations within seven days, and the trials within 14 working days. This was aimed at reducing the total judgement time from four months to 21 days.

This proposed fast-tracking of cases was intended for offences such as rape and gang rape against women and children. It recommended the death penalty for the above mentioned offences. Apart from that, it also proposed life imprisonment for other sexual offences against children.

It prescribed two years of imprisonment for the first conviction and four years for second and subsequent convictions in cases of harassment of women through social media or digital media. For this particular provision, the Bill recommended amendments to certain sections in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) raised various objections against the Bill, including the provision of geo-tagging sexual offenders and also for giving a specific name to the legislation.

Earlier, the Bill was sent to the President for assent, but in the wake of implementation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the MHA, which reviewed the Bill, advised the state government to withdraw the existing legislation. The MHA has also advised the government to submit a revised Bill incorporating the Centre’s recommendations.

Following this, the state government has taken into consideration the recommendations of the Union government in its decision to withdraw the Bill. The opposition, YSR Congress Party, during whose tenure the Bill was introduced, accused the Naidu-led government of political hostility over its withdrawal.

Meanwhile, minister K. Parthasarathi, in a press conference, said that the new criminal laws, BNS and BNSS, have already incorporated stronger legal provisions aimed at protecting women and children. He explained that the Bill is no longer necessary as the new criminal laws do fulfil the objectives which were recommended under the Disha Bill.

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