With three new criminal laws in force, Congress on July 1 accused the government of “forcing” it to be passed in Parliament after suspending 146 MPs and insisting that going forward, the INDIA bloc will not allow such “bulldozer justice”. in the country’s parliamentary system.
Three new criminal laws came into effect in the country on July 1, bringing changes to India’s criminal justice system.
New penal code in India: The Hindudetailed coverage
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) consider some of today’s modern social and crime realities. The new Act replaced the British-era Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act.
In a post in Hindi on X, Mr. Kharge said, “After the political and moral shock of the elections, Modi ji and the BJP are pretending to respect the Constitution, but the truth is that the three laws of the criminal justice system are enforced from today, enforced by force. after the suspension of 146 MPs. “INDIA will not allow this ‘bulldozer justice’ to be done in the parliamentary system,” he said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also slammed the government after the first FIR was filed under the new law.
“The first FIR has been filed under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita 2023. Delhi Police is against a street vendor for obstructing, after he earns his daily livelihood on a bridge located at New Delhi Railway Station,” said Mr. Ramesh. .
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Delhi Police registered the first FIR under the provisions of the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita penal code against street vendors selling water and tobacco products from carts allegedly blocking public roads in the Kamala Market area of central Delhi on July 1, officials said.
Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram also slammed the government for bringing the new criminal law into force and said it was another case of “bulldozing” existing laws and replacing them with three new bills without adequate discussion and debate.
In his post at X, Mr. Chidambaram said, “90-99 per cent of the so-called new laws are cut, copy and paste. A task that could have been accomplished with a few amendments in the three existing laws has been turned into a wasteful exercise. “Yes, there are some improvements in the new law and we have welcomed them. They could have been introduced as an amendment. On the other hand, there are some retrograde provisions. Some changes are prima facie unconstitutional,” he said.
Lawmakers, who are members of the standing committee, studied the provisions and wrote detailed dissent notes on the three bills, senior leaders said.
Mr. Chidambaram added that the government did not argue or respond to criticism on the record of dissent and there was no meaningful debate in Parliament.
“Legal scholars, bar associations, judges and lawyers in many articles and seminars show the great shortcomings in the three new laws. No one in the government cares to answer these questions,” he said.
“It is another case of bulldozing three existing laws and replacing them with three new bills without adequate discussion and debate,” Mr. Chidambaram said.
The initial impact was to undermine the administration of criminal justice, he said.
“In the medium term, many challenges to the law will be carried out in various courts. In the long term, further changes should be made to the three laws in order to be in line with the Constitution and the modern principles of criminal jurisprudence,” said Mr. Chidambaram.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is pushing for the law, said the new law would give priority to justice, unlike the British-era law that gave priority to criminal activity.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the Congress’ concern was that the bill was passed without discussion.
“Something that is important and up to this point. Many of us have asked for a review of the IPC but we want a discussion and the discussion never happened and that is something very regrettable in a democracy like ours,” he told reporters outside Parliament.
Congress MP Manish Tewari hit out at the government on the issue, saying the three new criminal laws are dangerous and draconian in their implementation.
“They will throw a spanner in the works of the Indian criminal justice system. From today, two parallel systems will be in play. All cases registered before June 30, 2024, midnight will be prosecuted under the old system and cases registered after June 30, 2024, midnight will be prosecuted under the new system,” he said.
“There are 3.4 crore pending cases and many criminal cases. So, there will be confusion,” he said.