New panel to focus on women safety in Delhi

After two commissions of inquiry constituted by the AAP government were declared unconstitutional by the Union home ministry, the Kejriwal administration has again set up another commission to investigate safety and security measures for women in the national capital. A notification to this effect, issued by the AAP government, says that the tenure of the three-member commission of inquiry will be for a period of two years and its mandate will be to submit a report after every three months.

Before the probe on women’s safety, the other commissions of inquiry had been constituted to probe the CNG fitness scam and alleged financial irregularities in the DDCA and these were declared illegal, invalid and void ab initio by the Centre. The commission on women’s safety and security was constituted on the basis of a resolution passed by the Delhi Assembly earlier. The Assembly had resolved that a commission should be constituted to receive complaints of violence, sexual harassment, stalking and voyeurism against women.

According to the notification, “Whereas, the Government of National Capital Territory Delhi in pursuance of the resolution of the Legislative Assembly has decided to constitute an independent commission of inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 (60 of 1952) for inquiring complaints of crime committed against women since February 2013.”

The notification, issued by the deputy director of the women and child development department, said retired district judge Dinesh Dayal will be the chairman of the commission and Richa Pandey Mishra and Surbhi Singh will be its members. Ms Mishra is an AAP spokesperson and has reportedly been involved in the party’s fundraising activity and Ms Singh is an active AAP volunteer and a close aide of deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

The commission will not only receive unheeded complaints of crime against women, but also suggest action to the city government on the basis of the recommendations made by the Justice Verma Committee. It will also be bound to suggest necessary amendments to the relevant laws, if any, recommend whether any case of negligence or collusion is made out prima facie in the cases examined, recommend measures to expedite all the proceedings in such criminal cases, propose measures to be taken to properly implement the provisions of the existing laws as well as the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee to prevent recurrence of such incidents, recommend welfare measures for improving the working conditions in the law-enforcing agencies and address any issues which it may find relevant during course of its inquiry.

A senior bureaucrat said that setting up of the third commission of inquiry on women’s safety was bound to further deteriorate the relationship between Mr Kejriwal and the Modi government. The AAP government is said to have set up the commission without taking any prior approval from the L-G.

Earlier, the MHA had declared the commissions of inquiry probing CNG fitness scam and irregularities in DDCA as illegal. The MHA had noted that it has been clarified that the GNCTD is not the “competent” authority to set up such inquiries under various provisions of the Constitution and the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952. “The notification issued by the GNCTD has therefore been declared legally invalid and void ab initio.”

Slamming the Centre, Mr Sisodia had said that the CoI set up the by his government would continue with its work and, if the MHA was aggrieved, it may approach the judiciary.