It also dismissed suggestions that the government has rejected some of the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee, which went into the issue of tightening anti-rape laws, saying the ordinance reflected the broadest consensus within the government.
Defending the ordinance, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said there was a universal demand that laws must be amended immediately and the government came to the conclusion that there was a strong case to promulgate it.
He said though criminal law can apply only prospectively and not retrospectively, the changes made in the procedural laws through the ordinance would apply on ongoing trials.
"The government hopes that the stringent provisions in the ordinance will have a deterrent effect on potential criminals during the period between now and the date on which the new law will be enacted by Parliament," he said at a press conference along with I and B Minister Manish Tewari.
Asserting that the government has not rejected any of the recommendations of Justice J S Verma Committee, Chidambaram said all suggestions were not incorporated in the ordinance as these would be studied and could be incorporated at a later stage.
The Finance Minister said the ordinance which was promulgated yesterday contains 22 clauses and of these, 11 clauses have been taken from the pending Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2012 either wholly or substantially.
Tewari said it is obligatory for the government to introduce a Bill to replace the ordinance and to get it passed in Parliament before the expiry of the period of six weeks.
Asserting that the ordinance is only the starting point of a legislative process, Chidambaram assured everyone that further consultations will take place and the Bill to replace it will be introduceD in the in the Budget session of Parliament.
"There will be discussions with the political parties.
There will be a debate in Parliament when the Bill is introduced to replace the ordinance. These consultations, discussions and debate will afford ample opportunity to make changes in the ordinance which was promulgated yesterday.
"Government is confident that when the Bill to replace the ordinance is introduced and passed in Parliament, the Bill will reflect the broadest possible consensus on the imperative and urgent need to have an effective law to protect women and to punish crimes against women," he said.
The Finance Minister said it would not be correct to say that any recommendation of the Justice Verma Committee has b been rejected by the government.
The correct position, he said, was that some of its recommendations have not been incorporated in the ordinance because of divergence of opinion on the issues which requires more consultations and deliberations.
He cited the example of marital rape, reduction of age of juvenile's age from 18 to 16 for defining the offence of "rape of an under-age person" as issues that require more consultations and deliberations.
Similarly, the Verma Committee recommendations relating to creation of the offence of "breach of command responsibility" and amending criminal procedure code relating to sanction and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 have far reaching implications and had to be carefully considered.
Stakeholders concerned, including the Armed Forces and the Police and Paramilitary forces have to be consulted, he said.