 bill no 133 of 1981 , ,; the commission of sati (prevention) ~,1987i'  a billto provide for the more effective prevention of the com,,,iuion of bati and its glorification and for matters connected therewit" of' incidental thereto whereas sati or the burning or burying alive of widows or women ia revolting to the feelings of human nature and is nowhere enjoined by any of the religions of india as an imperative duty;; , and whereas it is neces'&ary to take more effective measures to prevent i the commission of sat~ and its glorification;' be it enacted by parliament in the thirty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:- part i preliminary10 1 (1) this act may be called the commission of sati (prevention) act 1987 short titlc -  at &ad (2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu and kashmir mcut (3) it shall come into force in a state on such date as the central 15 government may, by notification in ttle 0fb~1 q8lf;!tte appoint and different dates may be appointed for different s~tes 2 (1) in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,-(a) "cvde" means the code of criminal procedure, 1973; 20f 1974 (b) "glorification", in relation to sati, whether committed before or after the commencement of this act includes, among other things-5 (i) the observance 'of any ceremony or the taking out of a procession in connection with the commission of sati; or (ii) the supporting, justifying or propagating the practice of ban in any manner; or (iii) the arranging of any function to eulogise the person 10 who has committed sati, or (iv) the creation of a trust, or the collection of funds, or the construction of a temple or other structure or the carrying on of any form of vlorship or the performan<:e of any ceremony thereat, with a view to perpetuate the honour of, or to preserve 15 the memory of, a person who has committed sati; (c) ",em" means the burning or burying alive of-, i: (i)&i1y widow along with the body of her deceased husband  or «dr, other' l'elati~ or with any article object or thing associated with the husband or such relative; or 20 (ii) any woman along with the body of any of her relatives irrespective of whether' such burning or bu-ying is claimed to be voluntary on the part of the widow or the woman or otherwise; (d) "special court" means a special court constituted under 2s i section 9; (e) "temple" includea any building or other structure, whether roofed or not, constructed or made to preserve the memory of a person committing lciti or used or intended to be used for the carrying on of any form of worship or for the observance of any ceremony 30 connection with such commission 4,0(11160 (2) words and expressions used but not defined in this act and definen in the indian penal code or in the code shall have the same meanings as are respectively assigned to them in the indian penal code or the code 35   i part ii ,t-- , pumsldo:nts ror offences relating to san4' of 1160 at1aqit to commit mil 3 notwithstanding anything contained in the indian penal code, whoever attempts to commit 8ati and does any act towards such commission shall be punishable with imprisonment 'for a term which may 40 extend to one year or with aile or with both: provided· that the s~al court trying an offence under this section shall, before con'victing any person take into consideration the circumstances leading to the commission of the offence, the act committeed, the state of mind of the person charged of the offence at the time of the commission of the act and all other relevant factors 45 of 1160 4 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in the indian penal code abetment 5 'f " ' f ati 1 any person commits satl, whoever abets the commisllion of such 8ati 0'  either directly or indirectly, shall be punishable with death or imprison ment for hie and shall also be liable to fine (2) if any person attempts to commit bati, whoever abets such attempt, either directly or indirectly shall be punishable with imprison-10 ment fot life and shan also be liable to fine explanation-for the purposes of this section, any of the following acts or the like shall also be deemed to be an abetment, namely:-15 (a) any inducement to a widow or woman to get her burnt or buried alive along with the body o'f her deceased husband or with any other relative or with any article, objector thing associated with the husband or such relative, irrespective of whether she is in a fit state of mind or is labouring under a state of intoxication or stupe_ faction or other cause impeding the exercise of her free will ; 20 (b) making a widow or woman believ" that the commission o'f sati would result in !'lome spiritual benef  to her or her deceued husband or relative or the general well bt!ing of the family; (c) encouragin!! a widow or woman to remain fixed in her resolve to commit sati and thus instigating her to commit sati; 25 (d) participatinr! in any proce!!sion in connection with the commi!'lsion of sati or intpntionaljv aidin!! the widow or woman in her decic;ion tn cnmmit ~ati hv takinll' her aloner with th(> body of her deceas(''i husband or relative to the cremation or burial ~round: 30 (e) be;n", nrp!'lpnt fit the place where sati is commtttad a~ an active narticinant to ~uch ~mmi!'l!lten er to anv'eeremenv connected with it: (f) preventln~ or obstructing the widow 'or w<lm8n from saving herself from bein~ burnt or buried alive; (q) obstructing or interfering with the police in the (fischarlle of its duties of taking any steps to prevent the commission of sati, punishmcntfor ,lcirulcla tioaof sali - 35 5 whoever does anv ad for the "lorifkatlon of sati shall be punish: able with imprisonment 'cor a term which shall not be leo;s than one veai hut which mav extend to sevf"n ve8~ 8rtd with ftne which shall not be less than five thousand rupees but which may extend to thirty thousand  ' - -p--~' rupees 40 part iii power to prohibit certain acts, powers of collector or district macistrate to prevent offences relating to sati 6 (1) where the collector or the di5trict magistrate is of the opinion that sati or any abetment thereof is being or is about to be 4s committed he may, by order, prohibit th~doing of any·act towards the commission of sati by any person in any area or areas specified in the crder (2) the collector or the district ma~~strate may also, by order j:-rohibit the glorification in any manner of s(ltiby {lny persou in apy 50 area or areas specified in the order i ' (3) whoever ooatravellea any order made under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall if such contravention is not 'punishable under any other provision of this act, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be les'b than one year but which may extend to seven years and with fine which shall not be less than five thousand rupees 5 but which may extend to thirty thousand rupees 7 (1) the state-government may, if it is satisfied that in any temple or other structure which' has been in existence for not less than twenty years, any form of worship or the performance of any ceremony is carried on with a view to perpetuate the honour of, or to preserve 10 the memory of any person committing san, by order, direct the removal of such temple or other structute to certain or other ~ (2) the collector or district ma~istrate may, if he is satisfied that in any temple or other structure, other than that referred to in sub-5f"ction (1), any form of worship or the performance of any ceremony 15 is carried on with a view to perpetuate the honour of or to preserve the memory of any 1i)erson committing sati, by order direct the removal "f such temple or otller structure 3) where any ot'der under sub-section (i) or sub· section (2) is not ('omnlfed 'with the statp· govel'nment or the collec'tor shall cal1~e 20 the temole or· other structure to be removed throll~h ::i noli(''' dylcer not below the rank of a sub ·ynsnector at the co~t of the defaulter 8(;1) where the collector or the district magistrate has reason to believe that any funcis or property have been collected or acquired for the purptlse- of ,glorification of the commission of any sati or which may be found ~der circumstances which create suspicion of the commission 25 of any o~ence ,~<let: this act, he may seize such funds ot property (2) every  collect«w or district magistrate acting under sub·section (1) shall report the seizure to the special court if any, constituted to try any oftience·in relation to which suehfunds or property were collected or acquired and shall await the orders of such special court as to 30 the disposal of the same  part iv special courts8 (1) notwtthstanding  anything contained in the code all offences under this' act shall be triable only by a special court constituted under 3s this section trial of offeacea under thii , act 'i (2) the state government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute one or more special courts for the trial of offences under this act and every special 'court· shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of the whole or such 'part of the state as may be specified in thenotifi- 40 cation (3) a sp~cial court shall be presided over by a judge to be appointed by the state government with the concurrence of the chief justice of the high court (4) a person shall not be qualified for appointm~jit [i~ a judge of a special court unless he is, immediately be"fore such appointment a s~ssions judge or an additional sessions judge in any state 10 (1) for every special court the state government shall appoillt a person to be a special public prosecutor special public prosecutors (2) a person shall be eligible to be appointed as a special public prosecutor under this section only if he had been in practice as an advo-~ cate fo~ not less than seven years or has held any post for a period of not  less than seven years under the state requiring special knowledge of law i  (3) every person appoin{jed as a special public prosecutor under this section shall be deemed to be a public prosecutor within the meaning of 10 clause (u) of section 2 of the code and the provisions of the code shall  ;have ~ffect accordingly 11 (1) a special court may take cognizance of any offence, without the accused being committed to it for trial, upon receiving a complaint of facts which constitute such offence, or upon a police report of such facts procedure and powers of ~pecial courts 15 (2) subject to the ot~r provisions of this act, a special court shall, for the purpose of the trial of any offence, have all the powers of a court of session and shall try such offence as if it were a court of session, so ': : far as may be, in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the code for trial before a court of session 20 12 (1) when trying any offence under this act, a special court may also try any other offence with which the accused may, under the code, be charged at the same trial if the offence is connected with such other offence power of special court with respect to other offences ' (2) if in the course of any trial of any offence under this ad it is found is that the accused person has committed any other offence under this act or unde!"· any other law, a special court may cdnvict such person also of such other offence and pass any sentence authorised by this act or such other law for the punishment thereof  forfeiture offunda 01' property - ,(3) in every inquiry or trial, the proceedings shall be held as 30 expeditiously as possible and, in particular, where the ~xamination of witnesses bas begun, the same shall be continued from day to day until all the witnesses in attendance havje been examined, and if any special court finds the adjournment of the same' beyond the following date to be necessary it shall record its reasons for doing so '  , 35 13 where a person has been convicted of an offence under this act, the special court trying such offence may, if it is considered necessary so to do declare that any funds or property seized under section 8 shall stand forfeited to the state i i appeal 14 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in the code, an appeal 40 shall lie as a matter of right from any judgment, sentence ot order, not being lln interlocutory order, of a special court to the high court both on facts and on law ' (2) every (lppeal under this section shall 'be preferred within a period of thirtv days from the date of the judgment, sentence or order appealed ,  45 t~orn: < provided that the high court may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the sdid period of thirty days if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within the period of thirty days  part v miscellaneous15 no suit, pros~ution or other legal proceeding shall lie against 5 the state government or any officer or authority of the state govern· ment for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this act or any rules or orders made under this act protection of action taken under this act burden of proof 18 where any person is /prosecuted of an offence undjer section 4 the burden of proofing that he had not committed the offence under the 10 said section shall be on him 17 (1) all offiders of government are hereby required and empowered to assist the police in the execution of the provisions of this act or any rule or order made thereunder obligation of certain persons to report about the commissiooof offence under this act 'j (2) all village officers and such other officers as ;may be specified by 15 the collector or the district magistrate in relation to any area and the inhabitants of such area shall, if they have reason to believe or have the knowledge that scti is about to be or has been cqmmitted in the area shah forthwith report such fact to the nearest police station (3) whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub· 20 section (2) shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to fine 18 a person convicted of an offence under sub-section (1) of section 4 in relation to the commission of sati shall be disqualifted from inheriting th2 property of the person committing such sati or the property of 25 any other person to which he would have been entitled to inherit on the person committing such sati person convicted of an offence under scdtion 4 to be disqualified from inheritina certain properties 19 in the representation of the people act, 1951,-amead meat of ('4) in section 8, in sub-section (2) after the proviso, the follow act 43 ing proviso shall be inserted, namely: -30 of 1951 ·'provided further that a person convicted by a special court for the contravention of any of the provisions of the commission of sati (prevention) act, 1987 shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be diaquaufied for a f\lrther periop 9f five years since his relea~";  35 (b) in section 123, aften' clause (3a), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-i '(3b) the propagation of the practice or the commission of san or its glorification by a candidate or his agent or any other s person with the consent of the candidate or his electioll/ agent for the furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate explanation-fo,r the purposes of this clause, "saw' and 10 "glorifications in relation to sati" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the commission of sati (prevention) act 1987' act to have over ridina effect 20 the provisions of this act or any rule or order made thereunder shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith con-15 tained in any enactment other than this act or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any enactment other than this act 21 (1) the central government may, by notification in the oftlcial gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this act power to make rules (2) every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as 20 may be after it is made, before each house of parli~ent, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive - sessions aforesaid both houses agree in making any modification in 2s the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule repeal of existing laws 30 zz (1) all laws in force in any state immediately before the commencement of this act in that state which provide for the prevention or the glorification of sati shall, on such commencement, stand repealed (2) notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under any law repealed under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to have 35 been done or taken under the corr~sponding provisions of this act, and, in particular, any case taken cognizance of by a special court under thp provisions of any law so repealed and pending before it immediately before the commencement of this act in that stat  shall continue to be dealt with by that special court after such commence-40 ment as if such special court had been constituted under section 9 of this act , ~  , i r j ~ 'ii' 'v1  the recent incident of the commisaion of sati in the village of deorala in rajasthan, its subsequent glorification and the various cjttempts made by the protagonists of this practrce to justify its 'continuance on religious grounds had aroused apprehension all over the country that this evil social practice, eradicated long back, will be revived a general feeling had also grown in the country that the efforts put in by social reformers like raja ram mohan roy and others' in the last century would be nullified by; this single act· in rajasthan the commission of sati in deoraia was also followed by a number of congregations, ceremonies and festivals, and attempts were also made to collect funds for the construction of a temple at the site where sati was committed the place had also attracted large nwnber of crowds and in spite of the various steps taken by the state government of rajasthan and the order of the ,high court of rajasthan to prohibit any ceremony being conducted, it was feared that a temple would be constructed at the site to perpetuate the memory of the widow who committed sati these had evoked protests throughout the country and demands are being made by the women's organizations and from persons inside and outsid~ parl41-men~ for the enactment of a strong and deterrent central law to prqvide for the more effective prev~ntion of the commission of sq,ti and its ,glorificl;ltion so thatthis pralctice or its glorification is not con~ued in states where there is no law for the prevention or glorification of ;o,ti although the offence of attempt to commit suicide as c~ntained in ~ectio~ 3q9 of the indian penal code had been held by various h'igh courts to in~l~de the commission of sati punishable under the provlsion, the sentence provided in that section was not deterrent enough to prevent the commission of such practice further, that section also did not provide for the glorification of sati subsequent to the commission of sati there are at present only three laws in force in the states, including the ~fitjasthan sati (prevention) act, 1987 the other two enactments are the,b~ngal sati regulation, 1829 (bengal regulation xvii of 1829) and the t{lmil nadu sati regulation, 1830 (tamil nadu regulation 1 of 1830) 2 it is, therefore, considered desirable to enact a central law -w:hicp should be applicable to the whole of india other than the state afl ammu and kashmir the bill, among other things, provides for the: following matters, namely:-0) the definition of 8'a'ti would include not only the burning or burying alive of any widow along with the body of the deceased husband but would also include such burning or burying of any woman with any other relative or with any article, object or thing associated with the husband or such relative irrespective of whether such burning or burying is claimed to be voluntary or otherwise; (ii) a definition of glorification of jati has been included which would include the observance of any ceremony, participating in any procession connected with the commission of soiti or of any function to eulogise the person who had committed sati the definition would also include the construction of any temple or the perfonnance of carrying on of any form of worship for the performance of ceremony thereat; (iii) the offence of attempt to commit sati will be punishable with the same punishment as is provided for the offence of attempt to commit suicide under section 309 of the indiah penal code this is because in most cases the widow or the woman is compelled to commit sati and invariably she will not be in ~ fit state of mind or will be labouring under a state of intoxication or stupefaction or other cause impeding the exercise of her free will; (iv) the abetment of sati will be punishable with death or imprisonment for life and shan also be liable to fine while the abetment of any attempt to commit sati will be punishable with imprisonment for life and fine; (v) the glorification of sati is punishable with a minimum imprisonment of one year which may extend to seven years and with a minimum fine of five thousand rupees which may extend to thirty thousand rupees; - (vi) the collector or district magistrate has been given the power to prohibit the doing of any act towards the commission of sati in any area if he is of the opinion that sati is likely to be commltted in such area the state government or the collector or district magistrate has also been empowered to remove temples or other structures constructed for the glorification of sati and to seize properties aeq uired for such purpose; (vii) the offences under the proposed legislation will be triable only by a special court constituted under the provisions of the legislation; (viii) where any person is prosecuted of an offence of abetment of sati or the abetment of an attempt to commit sati, the burden of proving that he had not committed the offence shall be on him a person who is convicted of an offence of abetment of sati will also be disqualified from inheriting the property of the person who commits sati; (ix) the representation of the people act, 1951 is being amende:! to provide for disqualification for standing for election to parliament or to any state legislature during the period of conviction and for a period of five years since his release, the propagation of commission of sati or its glorification by a candidate at such an election will also be deemed to be a corrupt practice under that act, 3 the bill seeks to achieve the above objects nfw delhi; the 9th december, 1987 p v narasimha rao  m)!;morandum regarding belegated legislationclause 21 of the bill empowers the central government, by notification in the official gazette, to make rules for carrying out the provisions of the proposed legislation the rules that may be made by the central government under this provision may relate to matters of procedure or detail and as such the delegation of legislative power will be normal in character  annexure extract from the r!:prbsentation of the people act, 1951 (43 of 1951) - •  •ii (1)    •• disqualification on (2) a person coovict,ed by a court in india for any offence and con vicsentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualilion for fied from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified certain for a further period of five )1!ars since his release: offences provided that a person convicted by a court in india for the contravention of any law providing for the prevention of hoarding or profiteering or of adulteration of food or drugs and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than six months shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of five years since his release - -  - -  a billto provide for the more effective prevention of the commlsslon of sati and it 'gloriftcation and for matters connected therewith or inciden· tal thereto (shri p v narasimha roo, minister of human resource del,elopment ) 