UP govt passes Bill with no anticipatory bail to accused in crime against women

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Assembly, which is led by Yogi Adityanath, has adopted a “zero tolerance” stance on crimes against women and children. The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2022, which prohibits anticipatory bail for those accused of crimes against women and children, was enacted by the state legislature.

The Bill eliminated anticipatory bail for those convicted of horrific crimes against women and was tabled in the UP Assembly under Yogi Adityanath’s urging. The provisions of the CrPC are up for amendment thanks to the bill.

The UP Assembly addressed the bill’s introduction on Thursday, a day earlier, when it was being discussed how to secure women’s empowerment.

The measure will reportedly be revised to include a clause prohibiting anticipatory bail for those charged with major crimes against women like rape, gang rape, and sexual misconduct. Awaiting bail will not be given to suspects arrested under the POCSO Act either.

The POCSO Act and Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are the two things that the amendment bill aims to modify. This implies that if an individual is arrested for a major offence against a woman, they will not be eligible for anticipatory bail.

The UP government stated that the amendment bill was being proposed in accordance with its zero tolerance policy for crimes against women and children.

The Bill states, “In pursuance of zero tolerance policy towards crimes against women and children, to ensure prompt collection of evidence in sexual offenses, to prevent such evidence from being annihilated, to minimize the possibility of destruction of evidences and to restrain the accused from causing fear and coercion to the victim /witnesses, it has been decided to amend the section 438 of Code of Criminal Procedure 1973.”

The change may prove to be a turning point in preventing intimidation of witnesses and victims as well as manipulation of the evidence by the accused.