Amta(Howrah) District Meeting
The Constitution of India provides for a federal system wherein powers are divided between the
central, state, and local governments. The demarcation of powers is provided in Schedule VII
read with Article 246 of the Constitution. Powers are divided into three lists:
1. The Union List: the Union Parliament has exclusive power to make laws with respect to the
matters enumerated within this list.
2. The State List: State Legislatures have the exclusive power to make laws with respect to the
matters enumerated within this list.
3. Concurrent List: both the Parliament and State Legislatures have the power to make laws with
respect to the matters enumerated within this list.
In the event of contradiction between Central and State laws, the Central law will prevail.
Criminal law and criminal procedure fall under the Concurrent List while matters relating to
Police and Prisons fall under the State List. The laws that govern criminal law in India are the
Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and the Criminal Procedure Code, 1974 (CrPC). The IPC
provides for the substantive law to be followed in case a crime has been committed. The CrPC
provides for the procedures to be followed during investigation and trial by the police and courts.
There exist specific courts for criminal trials to held called Sessions Courts at the District level.
India has adopted the adversarial system of legal procedure wherein the judge acts as a neutral
party and the case is argued by the prosecutor suing the plaintiff and defense attorney who
defends their plaintiff. One major distinction between India and other common law countries is
that it does not follow the jury system.
“The Semantic meaning of „crime against women‟ is direct or indirect physical or mental cruelty
to women. Crimes which are „directed specifically against women‟ and in which „only women
are victims‟ are characterized as „Crime Against Women‟. It is equally important to clarify the
concept of „Violence‟ against women. Violence is also known as abuse and includes any sort of
physical aggression or misbehaves. When violence is committed at home it becomes domestic
violence and involves family members such as children, spouse, parents or servants. Domestic
violence may involve different means such as hitting, kicking, biting, shoving, and restraining,
throwing objects. In broad terms, it includes threats, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, controlling
or domineering, intimidation, stalking, passive/covert abuse and economic deprivation, rape,
abduction, kidnapping, murder (all cases of criminal violence, dowry death, wife battering,
sexual abuse, maltreatment of a widow and for an elderly women (all cases of domestic violence)
and eve-teasing, forcing wife/daughter-in-law to go for feticide, forcing a young widow to
commit sati, etc (all cases of social violence), are issues which affect a large section of society.
central, state, and local governments. The demarcation of powers is provided in Schedule VII
read with Article 246 of the Constitution. Powers are divided into three lists:
1. The Union List: the Union Parliament has exclusive power to make laws with respect to the
matters enumerated within this list.
2. The State List: State Legislatures have the exclusive power to make laws with respect to the
matters enumerated within this list.
3. Concurrent List: both the Parliament and State Legislatures have the power to make laws with
respect to the matters enumerated within this list.
In the event of contradiction between Central and State laws, the Central law will prevail.
Criminal law and criminal procedure fall under the Concurrent List while matters relating to
Police and Prisons fall under the State List. The laws that govern criminal law in India are the
Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and the Criminal Procedure Code, 1974 (CrPC). The IPC
provides for the substantive law to be followed in case a crime has been committed. The CrPC
provides for the procedures to be followed during investigation and trial by the police and courts.
There exist specific courts for criminal trials to held called Sessions Courts at the District level.
India has adopted the adversarial system of legal procedure wherein the judge acts as a neutral
party and the case is argued by the prosecutor suing the plaintiff and defense attorney who
defends their plaintiff. One major distinction between India and other common law countries is
that it does not follow the jury system.
“The Semantic meaning of „crime against women‟ is direct or indirect physical or mental cruelty
to women. Crimes which are „directed specifically against women‟ and in which „only women
are victims‟ are characterized as „Crime Against Women‟. It is equally important to clarify the
concept of „Violence‟ against women. Violence is also known as abuse and includes any sort of
physical aggression or misbehaves. When violence is committed at home it becomes domestic
violence and involves family members such as children, spouse, parents or servants. Domestic
violence may involve different means such as hitting, kicking, biting, shoving, and restraining,
throwing objects. In broad terms, it includes threats, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, controlling
or domineering, intimidation, stalking, passive/covert abuse and economic deprivation, rape,
abduction, kidnapping, murder (all cases of criminal violence, dowry death, wife battering,
sexual abuse, maltreatment of a widow and for an elderly women (all cases of domestic violence)
and eve-teasing, forcing wife/daughter-in-law to go for feticide, forcing a young widow to
commit sati, etc (all cases of social violence), are issues which affect a large section of society.