-The Indian Express With life term being one of the stringent Punishments being considered for crimes against women, the Centre has sent an advisory to all states to clear the air on the meaning of the term. Life imprisonment means jail term for the entire life of the convict and not just 20 years or 14 years in prison, the February 1 advisory states. The clarification follows the prevailing confusion on the...

-The Indian Express On the Delhi rape case, let’s keep the indignation, disturb legislative slumbers The Verma Committee Report (VCR) speaks against civil society and political rape cultures. The poignancy and urgency of the VCR owes much to the experience of conversing with rape survivors and traumatised children. A precious message of the VCR is this: one may not take law reform seriously without taking human and social suffering equally seriously. The committee...

-The Hindu Verma panel recommended fixing responsibility on superior officers The Centre has not accepted the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee regarding Punishment to government servants, particularly police and army personnel, involved in acts of crime against women. The ordinance, cleared by the Union Cabinet on Friday, aims at making changes in various sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with crime against women. For instance, the three-member panel had suggested changes in...

-The Hindu The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) too objected to the "selective and arbitrary approach" of the Government to the recommendations. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has denounced the ordinance which the Union Cabinet issued on Friday to curb sexual violence against women. When Parliament was to convene for the budget session in three weeks, the promulgation of the ordinance ran counter to democratic norms, a statement issued by the...

-Outlook Leading women organisations today rejected the ordinance on sexual crimes against women terming it as "complete betrayal" of people's faith in the government and urged President Pranab Mukherjee not to sign it. "The ordinance is a complete betrayal of the people's faith. We are alarmed at the complete lack of transparency displayed by the government in proposing the ordinance as an emergency measure," women rights activist Vrinda Gover said. The women activists,...