BHARATI H. DANGRE, J.

1. An incident of rape and fatal assault that occurred in the National Capital on 16th December 2012 which involved a 23 year old physiotherapist intern, shocked the conscience of the whole nation. The incident generated widespread national and international coverage and was widely condemned both in India and abroad. There was unrest and public protest in the capital which was followed in several major cities in its own way. Social networking sites were put to use to raise a demand of strict law against rape. This resulted into constitution of a three Member Committee on 23rd December 2012 headed by the Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice J.S. Verma to recommend amendments to the Criminal Law so as to provide for speedy trial and enhance punishment for offence of sexual assault against woman. The said Committee submitted its report on 23rd January 2013. Sensing the urgency and to subdue the wide uproar amongst the general public, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2013 was promulgated on 3rd February 2013. This was followed by the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs tabling its report recommending amen