NEW DELHI: In a bid to address criticism that harsh laws may not deter crime if conviction rates remain low, the ordinance on crimes against young girls sets a two-month deadline for police investigation and a similar time-frame for trial along with strengthening forensic capacities.

Besides a trial court deadline , disposal of appeal is to be dealt with in six months even though provisions come as a big challenge for the current state of the criminal-judicial system. The ordinance, though not perfect in all its aspects, recognises the need for quicker and reliable processes to make tougher sentencing meaningful.

The ministry of women and child development is gearing to focus on areas like fast-track courts, training and recruitment of police and strengthening the testing facilities at forensic labs where it is seeking cooperation with the states.

The ministry admits that testing of samples is a big handicap. The government hopes the new forensic testing facility to be set-up in a year at Chandigarh at a cost of over Rs 99 crore will improve disposal of cases.

As of now, the facility handles about 1,500 cases a year and this is to increase significantly to up to 20,000 cases.

Home and law ministries will have a critical role to play in bolstering the investigation and judicial system.

The current case load on sessions courts is very large and a contributory factor is the cycle of delays. The ordinance proposes stringent punishment, ranging from a minimum of 20 years to life or death, for rape of girls below 12 years. While providing death penalty for rapist of a child below 12, it provides for imposing fine on the accused that meets the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the survivor.

Focusing on a two-month deadline for completing investigation, the new law replaces the earlier word “may” with “shall” making it mandatory. Earlier the law stated that this may be adhered to “as far as possible”, but now that option has been taken away.

The ordinance also abolishes the power of the session courts and the high courts to grant anticipatory bail in all cases where the survivor is below 16 years of age.

