The court said that the reformation of convicts is the ‘real need of the hour’. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday decided to set up a panel to suggest measures to curb sexual violence against women and children, saying there was an urgent need to prevent such incidents. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said no one can object if a committee is established to look into the matter and suggest preventive measures, reported PTI. The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by two non-governmental organisations challenging the proposed amendment in criminal law, to provide the death penalty for gangrape of girls below the age of 12 years. The peitions say that the Justice JS Verma Committee had called the death penalty a regressive step. The committee was set up after the gang-rape of a woman on board a bus in New Delhi in 2012, to suggest changes to criminal law for faster trials and enhanced punishment for sexual assault against women. The bench also said that the reformation of convicts is vital. “Reformation of the convicts is the real need of society,” it said. Amicus curiae Aparna Chandra suggested three names for the panel – Vidya Reddy, who works with the Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, advocate Vrinda Bhandari, and Swagata Raha of the Centre for Child and Law of the National Law School of India University. The court agreed, saying these people were experts in the domain of sexual violence against women and children, and were also working at the grassroots level. The court asked Chanda to take instructions from the government on the remuneration to be paid to the experts, a matterwhich should be “urgently considered”, said the court. It listed the case for hearing next on August 16.