Report No. 135

Chapter X

Conclusions and Recommendations

In the light of the discussion made in the earlier Chapters of the Report, the commission is of the opinion that it is essential to make appropriate provisions in order to foreclose harassment of women in custody and in order to protect such women to the extent possible. It is felt that amendment of each individual provision, as existing in the Code of Criminal Procedure, may not sufficiently serve the purpose. The provisions which call for amendment in the light of the discussion made hereinbefore are scattered in different chapters of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Under the circumstances, the amendments made especially with an eye on protecting the women in custody from harassment and avoidable hardship will not come into focus if effected in each individual provision and the officials concerned may not become fully aware of such provisions without making a special effort in this behalf. So also, the women's organisations and the relatives of the concerned women in custody may experience the same difficulty in informing themselves about the rights of such women.

In the Commission's opinion, it is, therefore, desirable that, as far as possible, the provisions especially made in this behalf may be incorporated in a separate Chapter of the Code of Criminal Procedure so that the concerned officials, as also the women's organisations and the women in custody and their relatives, can, without much effort, apprise themselves of the rights of such women and the obligations of the concerned officials.

For the sake of convenience, a draft of the proposed chapter relating to arrest, interrogation and custody of women (and, incidentally, of children) and the proposed provisions embodying the conclusions of the Commission is being set out hereinafter. But before doing so, the conclusions and recommendations may be broadly indicated:

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