Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly hearing in 21 days in 'Disha' Bill pass rap case

(PTI) Amravati, Ta. December 13, 2019, Friday

The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Friday passed the direction bill. At the same time, Andhra Pradesh has become the first state in the country to look into the death penalty in a misdemeanor case.

An outbreak of anger has spread across the country over the incident of burning of a corpse following the mass murder of a woman doctor in Hyderabad. This new bill has been named as 'Andhra Pradesh Direction Bill 2019', a tribute to the lady doctor.

The bill expedited the trial of misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor cases, providing for judgment and death sentence within 21 days. The current law allows four months to prosecute the case.

Along with this, another law has also been approved which has the provision of setting up a special court to prosecute cases against women and children.

The new law refers to investigating cases related to sexual offenses within seven working days from the record time and completing the hearing within 14 working days of the date the chargesheet was filed.

In addition, the new law will have to deal with the punishment within six months. This law, implemented to protect women, clears the way for speedy sentencing of the accused and a fast track court will be formed for that.