The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the three crucial criminal reform law bills replacing colonial-era laws like the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, and the Code of Criminal Procedure which formed the foundation of Indian criminal jurisprudence for more than a century.
More importantly, the three new bills – the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita (replaces the Indian Penal Code), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita (replaces the Code of Criminal Procedure), and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Sanhita (replaces the Indian Evidence Act) was passed virtually unopposed amid suspension of 97 Opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha.
So far, at least 143 Opposition MPs representing at least 94 constituencies have been suspended from both houses for the rest of the winter session for demanding a discussion on the parliament breach where two men jumped into the well of the Lok Sabha and set off a smoke bomb. On December 8, TMC leader Mahua Moitra was expelled over an alleged cash-over-query scam. BJP MP Hema Malini alleged the lawmakers were suspended as “they keep raising questions”.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the latest version of the criminal reform bills which incorporated amendments as proposed by the parliamentary committee. However, the new version of the bills was also faced with its share of criticism including concerns over the alleged potential violations of human rights and inadequate safeguards from excesses by law enforcement agencies.
In its new draft, 358 Sections of the BNC will replace the 511 sections of the IPC; two new offences have been introduced; punishment in 33 offences and fines in 83 crimes enhanced; minimum punishment introduced in 23 sections; 19 sections deleted. The concept of community service was introduced as a penalty for the first time and doctors are exempt in cases of death due to medical negligence.
The Centre on December 12 re-introduced the three revised criminal bills after it withdrew its earlier avatars following a recommendation for changes from the parliamentary committee.
New law justice, reform-oriented: Centre
The BJP and its allies said the colonial-era laws (IPC, CrPC, and the Indian Evidence Act) were centered on punishment, and deterrence while the three new laws were women and child-centric, citizen-friendly, and justice and reform-oriented.
In his more than an hour-long reply, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the three new bills “seek to establish a justice system based on Indian thinking,” even as it upheld the “spirit of the Constitution” and freed people from a “colonial mindset and its symbols”.
“…But those with an Italian mindset will never understand it,” Shah said in an apparent dig at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
The bills are not only in line with constitutional values but also designed keeping the future in mind, Shah said. Terrorism was defined for the first time under Indian law to plug all loopholes, Shah said highlighting terrorism-related provisions to underscore the government’s commitment towards a zero-tolerance policy on terrorism.
“While the Indian Penal Code penalises works against the government, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita will only punish those who work against the nation. Such people must and will go to jail and be punished,” Shah said.
“We are about to eradicate all signs of the shackles of our colonial past and of our slavery and create completely Indian criminal laws,” he said.
“Swarajya has finally attained true meaning because our country is moving towards respecting swabhasha, swadharma, and swadesha,” BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said. Former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad underscored the bills’ focus on digitization and incorporation of technological advancements. “This is this age of communication and technology, and communication and technology are power,” Prasad said addressing the house.
New Criminal Reform Law akin to Rowlatt Act: Opposition
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, one of the few opposition MPs who was not suspended, said had Bhagat Singh or Mahatma Gandhi been alive they would’ve compared these laws to the Rowlatt Act.
“These three criminal Bills are themselves felonious. Instead of preventing crimes, they are an attempt to give legal cover to the government’s crimes. The irony is that the people who are facing charges of terrorism are also defining terrorism,” Owaisi said.
“The reality is that there is no greater punishment for the poor, the Dalit and Muslims in this country than their very lives, Owaisi said adding, “the maximum number of undertrials in the country today are Muslims, Dalits, and tribals”.
Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the bills gave law enforcement agencies powers without adequate checks and balance which would lead to their arbitrary use against liberty, democracy, dissent, and opposition.