The Parliament passed three bills related to criminal law in the absence of several opposition MPs. The Centre has introduced these three new bills with the aim of abolishing British- era laws. These bills were announced earlier by the Centre, however, the new amended bills were passed by Parliament on Wednesday.

A total of 146 opposition MPs have been suspended since the start of the Winter Session with Two more MPs being suspended on Wednesday. After that, the Home Minister started discussing the Justice Bill in a practically empty Parliament.

He said that these three bills have been prepared by giving priority to the Indian Constitution with the development of Indian people.

This year, Minister of Home Affairs of India , Amit Shah introduced the Indian Justice Code, the Indian Civil Protection Code, and the Indian Evidence Bill instead of the Criminal Code on the last day of the Monsoon session of Parliament.

The bills were then referred to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs for discussion. The All India MPs in the committee alleged that the central government was rushing through the bills without consulting appropriate experts. They also submitted a ‘dissent note’ or ‘objection letter’ about the bills.

Finally, three bills were passed in Parliament with virtually no opposition.

Objectives:

1.Throwing off the Colonial mantle

Home minister Amit Shah assured that the new criminal law emphasizes justice rather than punishment. Amit Shah said, “I am here to bring some major changes in three 150-year-old laws that govern our criminal justice system”.

2.Criminal justice will be humane

He further said, keeping in mind the spirit of the constitution, that these laws have been formulated in such a way that individual freedom is maintained and everyone gets equal treatment in the eyes of the law.

Amit Shah said that the concept of justice was prevalent in Indian society long before British rule. He further said that many Indian philosophies have been incorporated into these three bills.

The Union Home Minister said that the idea of punishment came from the trial. The purpose of punishment is to give justice to the victim and to ensure that people do not commit crimes again.

An attempt is made to set a precedent in society through punishment. These new bills will reflect the concept of Indian shipping. For the first time since independence, the Criminal Justice Act will be humane. •

3. Home minister says on Terrorism

According to Shah’s speech, this is the first time that terrorism has been defined in Indian law. As a result, no one can take advantage of the opportunity for evasion in this case. Sedition has been converted into treason. The Union Minister said that the country has been given a place instead of an individual. Those who are harming the country will never be spared.

About The Three Bills: New rules you should know

On Wednesday, the opposition camp moved to the two chambers of the Parliament regarding the security of the Parliament. After Tuesday, two opposition members were expelled by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for unparliamentary conduct. As a result, the lower house of parliament became empty of opposition. On this occasion, Amit Shah introduced three bills related to the new criminal law in the Lok Sabha for passage. Bill three passed without any discussion.

The earlier Indian Penal Code had 484 sections. Instead, the Indian Citizen Protection Bill, which is being introduced, has 531 clauses. 177 of its categories have been swapped. Nine new categories have been added, and 39 new sub-categories have been added. 44 new provisions have been added.

The three parliaments approved the three new laws on Thursday namely the Indian Nyaya Sanhita, Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam .

The three new Bills include the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam Bill to replace the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill to replace the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.

New addition

Sections  73 (publication of court proceedings without permission) and 86 (cruelty against Women) of the Indian Penal Code have been amended in the new bill.

Section 377 provides punishment for rape or sexual assault without consent. Cruelty is further defined in Article 86.

New offenses such as terrorism, organized crime, mob lynching, recruitment of children to commit crime, sexual exploitation of women by fraudulent means, extortion, incitement outside India, acts endangering the sovereignty, integrity, and unity of India, publication of falsehood or fake news, etc. will be prosecuted under ‘Nyaya Sanhita’.

The former included only 19 offenses. It did not include rape. Now, rape is included all offenses punishable by 10 years or more.

According to the ‘Bharatiya Suraksha Sanhita’, arrests for offenses punishable by less than 3 years with the prior approval of senior police officers shall be kept in police custody for 15 days for the first 40 or 60 days of the detention period.

The ‘Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam’ Act has added more standards to consider electronic and digital records as prima facie evidence, emphasizing proper custody, storage, transmission, and broadcasting.

Agenda of Decolonisation

Freedom from slavery mentality

According to Amit Shah’s speech, Prime Minister Modi said from the Red Fort that the country must be freed from colonial laws.
Amit Shah said the laws of the British era were made by foreign rulers to rule the country .These laws were not made for the people of the country; they were made to maintain British rule.

These laws are framed in the spirit of the Constitution. Taking a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, he said, “Those who say that these three new bills are not necessary, I will tell them that if you keep an open mind and an Indian mind, you will understand the need. But if your mind is in Italy, you will never understand the need.”

The balance between police and civil rights

Amit Shah also claimed that in the new three bills, a balance has been kept between police and citizens’ rights. As a result, the number of punishments will increase. Concepts of justice, equality, and impartiality are enshrined in the bill. Forensic science is also included.

Mob lynching is punishable

Deaths in mob lynchings have occurred in various parts of the country in the last few years. Expressing concern about this, Shah said that the new bill has provided for the death penalty for the crime of mob lynching.

Earlier, the bill had proposed a minimum imprisonment of seven years, but now the punishment has been extended from life imprisonment to death.

Congress has ruled the country for 58 years out of the last 70 years. Since they have been in power, why has this law not changed? Home Minister raised the question.

An end Of the ‘Tarikh pe Tarikh’ system?

The Indian judicial system is plagued with delays, a problem summed up by the Hindi/Urdu phrase “Tarikh Pe Tarikh,” which means “date after date” in English

This phrase has significant meaning and influence in court cases in India, reflecting a long-standing problem of legal process. The popular phrase “Tarikh Pe Tarikh” has become a potent symbol of chronic delays in the Indian justice system, resulting in repeated adjournments of court proceedings, hearings, or judgments.

These laws, once implemented, will ensure the end of the tarikh-pe-tarikh era and justice will be delivered within three years, Shah said during a debate on the bills in the Upper House of Parliament.

Shah said timeliness and financial challenges have become major hurdles in ensuring justice in the country.

Timely justice is not served… tarikh pe tarikh milti hai (prolonged trial), police blame courts and government, courts blame police, government blames police and judiciary… all keep blaming each other,” he said.

“For the poor, the biggest challenge to getting justice is money… Now, we have clarified many things in the new law. There will be no delay,” he said.

The three bills, which were later passed in the Lok Sabha to replace the colonial-era criminal laws, sought to overhaul the criminal justice system with a human-centric approach and a focus on dispensing justice rather than imposing penalties.

According to this new law, judges cannot reserve judgment for more than 45 days. Inspection by an FSL team will be mandatory for offenses where the punishment is more than seven years.

Now, if someone pleads guilty within 30 days of the crime, the punishment will be reduced.

“There was no provision for the production of documents during the trial. We have made it mandatory to produce all documents within 30 days. There will be no delay,” Shah added.

Now there will be severe punishment for accused involved in bomb blasts or economic crimes.

A deadline has also been set for filing mercy petitions, Shah said, adding that only death row convicts can file such petitions.

The Home Minister said that the new law will provide severe punishment for anyone who engages in sexual relations on the pretext of false promises or marriage.

The Home Minister highlighted that the bills underwent perhaps the widest consultations ever, with 4,200 suggestions received from various quarters, including 18 states, six Union Territories, 16 High Courts, and 22 law universities.

Modi praised these newly passed bills

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hailing the passage of three criminal law bills, wrote in a post on X, “The Indian Civil Protection Code, 2023, the Indian Justice Code, 2023, and the Indian Right to Evidence, 2023 have been passed. This was a watershed moment in our history. These bills marked the end of colonial-era legislation. A new era begins with public service and welfare-oriented legislation.”

Debates and Questions

Most of the MPs from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) participated in the Rajya Sabha debate. Apart from them there was MPs from other parties, including the BJD, and AIADMK.

TDP MP Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar argued that the new law retained sedition. “BNS has introduced new laws. Provisions that criminalize acts that endanger the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India. The essence of sedition has been retained in the new law,” he said.

BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani responded by saying that the recasting of Article 124A reflects the nationalist side of the bill.

Shah reiterated in the Rajya Sabha that “We have abolished the English practice of sedition.Now anyone can speak against the government because everyone has the right to freedom of speech. But if you speak against the country, harming its interests, you will get the harshest punishment.”

He also accused the Congress of never-ending sedition and said the Modi government had ensured that it was ended.

Congress MP P. Chidambaram accused the Modi government of “copy-pasting” the three new bills.

Then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote on social media that “this is an affront to the very foundations of India’s unity. BJP and PM Modi have no moral right to even utter the word ‘Tamil’. From the anti-Hindi movement to protecting our linguistic identity, we have already #Hindi has weathered the storm of imposition and will do it again with unyielding determination.”

Critics of the BJP’s Hindu-inspired linguistic project have made mixed comments. Amit Shah’s argument of distance from colonial remnants as the basis for discussions around replacing the existing IPC, CRPC, and Indian Evidence Act, however, raises a question: Does BNS, BNSS, and BSS really bring any welcome change?