Bills To Overhaul Criminal Laws Introduced, Referrred To Standing Committee
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-08-12 02:38:49
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
Home minister Amit Shah on Friday introduced three bills in the Lok Sabha in a bid to completely overhaul Indian colonial-era criminal laws. The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (CrPC) will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023.
The Home Minister had been talking about these changes for long. He said that extensive consultation has been done everywhere to make these laws. He said that in August 2019, he had written letters to all the judges of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justices of all the High Courts of the country and all the law universities of the country. In 2020, letters were written to all MPs, Chief Ministers, Governors and Administrators of Union Territories. He said that 18 States, 6 Union Territories, the Supreme Court, 16 High Courts, 5 Judicial Academies, 22 Law Universities, 142 Members of Parliament, about 270 MLAs and public have given their suggestions regarding these new laws. He said that for 4 years these were discussed in depth and he himself was present in 158 meetings. He did not seek a vote on the bills but referred them to the parliamentary standing committee on law and justice, which was the right thing to do.
The overhaul is total and significant. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, which will replace CrPC, will now have 533 sections, 160 sections have been changed, 9 new sections have been added and 9 sections have been repealed. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, which will replace the IPC, will have 356 sections instead of the earlier 511 sections, 175 sections have been amended, 8 new sections have been added and 22 sections have been repealed. The Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, which will replace the Evidence Act, will now have 170 sections instead of the earlier 167, 23 sections have been changed, 1 new section has been added and 5 repealed.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill has enhanced punishment like life term or death for gang rape of girls under 18 nad 10-year jail term in hit-and-run cases if the accused driver flees or fails to report the accident. It has introduced new provisions for snatching, hate speech and public mischief. It has also provided for community service as a punishment for first-time petty offences. Terrorism has also been defined for the first time. But sedition law has not been repealed despite the Home Minister saying so - instead, it has come back in a new avatar under Section 150 of the new Bill.
