Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday demanded the clearance and implementation of the Shakti bill with provisions for the death penalty for atrocities against children and women, referring to the Badlapur school incident. Both the House of Maharashtra legislature had passed the Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the Special Court & Machinery for Implementation of Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law, 2020, three years ago when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was in power. Addressing a press conference, Deshmukh said, When I was the home minister, I had formed a 21-member committee of legislators from all parties to draft the Shakti bill on the lines of an act in Andhra Pradesh. The bill was approved by the cabinet headed by Uddhav Thackeray and passed in the state legislature. It is pending before the Central government for approval. The NCP (SP) leader said the committee had drafted the Shakti bill after consultations with all ...