New rape bill, campaigns, CBI-bashing: TMC in desperate damage-control mode

Legislative recourse, mounting protests against the CBI, and counter social media campaigns are among the measures adopted by the party to ward off the biggest-ever crisis its government is facing in its 13 years of uninterrupted rule.

The TMC government will table in the state assembly on Tuesday a bill to amend the application of three central laws with respect to West Bengal. The Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal criminal laws amendment) Bill, 2024 seeks to amend the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 in their application to the state.

What is in the new bill?

It is learnt the new state law will propose to enhance maximum punishment for rape and gang rape, irrespective of age of the victim, with imprisonment for the remainder of natural life of the convict or death penalty.

Under the BNS, the provision of death penalty is there for the gangrape of females under 18 years of age. The bill is likely to propose establishment of a special court presided by a person not below the rank of a sessions judge or additional sessions judge in each district to expedite trial of the sexual offences. The state government will appoint a special public prosecutor for the special courts.

The proposed bill also suggests setting up an Aparajita Task Force, a special investigative team at the district level, to probe the specified offenses. The task force will be headed by a deputy superintendent of police.

The TMC government decided to introduce the bill accusing the BJP-led government of failing to enact laws with provision for stringent punishment for rape and murder and time-bound disposal of cases related to such crimes.

Mamata's two letters

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dashed off two letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since a 31-year-old lady doctor was raped and murdered at Kolkata’s government-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 seeking a stringent law.

Her nephew and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee stated last week that he would move a private member’s bill in Parliament if the Centre failed to initiate the new law.

TMC detractors are quick to allege that these are diversionary strategies adopted by the TMC and its government. Union Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi claimed that the point raised by the chief minister in her communique to the prime ministers was attempting to “cover up delays” in setting up Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) to specifically deal with cases of rape and sexual assault on children.

Political commentator and author Nirmalya Banerjee said by proposing to enact the law and demanding stringent punishment for the RG Kar incident, the TMC government was trying to position itself as one with the protestors.

TMC's massive protests

The TMC even hit the streets lining up a series of protest programmes castigating the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged lack of progress in its investigation over the brutal incident.

Pointing out that apart from prime accused Sanjay Ray ---  arrested in connection with the crime by the Kolkata police on the ill-fated day -- the CBI could not so far make any breakthrough in the case, minister of state for health Chandrima Bhattacharya demanded of the central agency to reveal the progress of the inquiry and build such a strong case so that the rapist could be hanged.

She was speaking at a rally the women's wing of the TMC organized on Sunday to protest the delay in the investigation. The Calcutta High Court transferred the probe from the Kolkata Police’s special investigation team to the CBI on August 23.

The party since then has been trying to mount pressure on the central agency to “deliver justice.”

“CBI ke chepe dhar (put pressure on the CBI), justice for R G Kar” is the slogan that reverberates the TMC protests being organised across the state. The idea is to turn the heat on the Centre by targeting the “lacklustre” investigation of the central agency.

The party’s attempt, however, received a setback when the CBI arrested Dr Ghosh on Tuesday evening over corruption at RGKMCH. The court directed the CBI to probe allegations of irregularities, including alleged smuggling of biomedical wastes, that reportedly took place in the institution during the tenure of the immediate past principal of the institution Dr Sandip Ghosh, who is now in the eye of storm over the August 9 incident.

Dr Ghosh underwent two polygraph tests and a marathon grilling by the CBI. The investigating agency is expected to submit its second report on the progress of the case before the Supreme Court on September 5.

A section within the TMC believes that the CBI's delay in achieving a breakthrough in the case will ultimately ease pressure on the state government.

“That Dr Ghosh has not been arrested in the rape and murder case goes on to show that Kolkata police’s investigation on the rape and murder case was on the right track,” commented a TMC leader who sought anonymity.

The party has directed its leaders to intensify its counteroffensive on social media to fend off attacks on the state government’s alleged shoddy handling of the unfortunate incident from the filing of the police complaint.

This apart, the TMC further embarked on a countermobilization drive at the block level primarily to ensure that the ongoing agitation did not spread to rural areas considered to be its stronghold.

These political efforts to deal with the crisis, observers say, might not be enough to quell the stir unless the state government takes some concrete administrative measures to give a sense of victory to the agitating public.

“The state government can at least suspend Dr Ghosh and replace the Kolkata Commissioner of Police Vineet Kumar Goyal considering the public sentiment against them,” said political commentator Amal Sarkar.

Junior doctors on Monday took to the streets in Kolkata demanding Goyal’s ouster for the Kolkata Police’s alleged mishandling of the case.

The Mamata Banerjee government’s move so far to deal with the crisis politically and not administratively might eventually prove costly for the party as the agitation is only going stronger.