Fact Check: Did Maha government implement Shakti Bill in state?
A post has been going viral on social media claiming that the Maharashtra government has announced the Shakti Bill which provides death penalty to rape accused.
By Tejal Sinha Published on 18 July 2021 6:14 PM IST
Hyderabad: A post has been going viral on social media claiming that the Maharashtra government has announced the Shakti Bill which provides death penalty to rape accused.
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Fact Check
The claim is false.
NewsMeter found that the post has been widely shared on Facebook.
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We first searched for reports related to the implementation of the Bill in Maharashtra and found reports that said the state Cabinet had decided to implement the Bill. However, there were no reports that said the Bill had been implemented.
According to a report by The Hindustan Times, the Shakti Bill which has provisions of strict punishment for heinous crimes like rape, acid attack, and social media abuse against women and children is likely to be delayed again at least by four months.
The state government had proposed the extension to the Joint Select Committee (JSC) appointed to deliberate on the Bill till the monsoon session to be held in July.
The Bill, named Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law (Maharashtra Amendment) Act 2020, along with Maharashtra Exclusive Special Court (for certain offences against women and children under Shakti Law) was sent to the JSC of 21 legislators in December. Opposition benches and some women rights group had opposed the Bill after which the state government decided to send it to the JSC for further deliberation.
We also found a report published by the Times of India on 5 July 2021. According to the report, in January, Maharashtra Home minister Anil Deshmukh, who is also the chairman of the Joint Committee of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Council, had invited suggestions and amendments to Shakti Bills from the general public.
We searched the official website of Maharashtra Parliamentary of Current Affairs to check if the Bill had been implemented but did not find anything.
It is evident that the claim is false as the Maharashtra government has not implemented the Shakti Bill in the state. There are no official statements by the government.
