India will no longer tolerate this ‘bulldozer justice’: Kharge
In a strongly worded post on social media platform X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “After the political and moral setback in the elections, Modiji and the BJP are pretending to respect the Constitution, but the truth is that the three laws on the criminal justice system that are coming into effect today were forcibly passed by suspending 146 MPs.”
He said, “India will no longer allow this “bulldozer justice” to be imposed on the parliamentary system.”
’90-99 per cent of the so-called new laws are cut, copy and paste work’:
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram attacked the government and alleged that a large part of the new laws was ‘cut, copy and paste’ which could have been done with some amendments.
Chidambaram said, “Three criminal laws replacing the IPC, CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act have come into force from today. 90-99 per cent of the so-called new laws are a cut, copy and paste job. What could have been accomplished with a few amendments to the existing three laws has been turned into a futile exercise.”
The Congress leader also alleged that some changes in the criminal justice system are ‘prima facie unconstitutional’.
He said, “Yes, there are some improvements in the new laws and we have welcomed them. These could have been introduced as amendments.”
“On the other hand, there are many regressive provisions. Some of the changes are prima facie unconstitutional. MPs who were members of the standing committee have gone into the provisions in depth and written detailed dissent notes on the three bills. The government did not refute or reply to any of the criticisms made in the dissent notes. There was no meaningful debate in Parliament,” he said.
Furthermore, he accused the government of ignoring serious deficiencies in the three laws even though they had been pointed out by legal scholars, bar associations, judges and lawyers.
He said, “Legal scholars, bar associations, judges and lawyers have pointed out serious deficiencies in the three new laws in numerous articles and seminars. No one in the government has bothered to answer these questions. This is another case of scrapping three existing laws and replacing them with three new bills without adequate discussion and debate.”
He further claimed, “This is another case of scrapping three existing laws and replacing them with three new Bills without adequate discussion and debate. The initial effect will be to create chaos in the administration of criminal justice.”
National Disaster Coalition government’s new criminal law regressive: TMC
Apart from this, TMC MP Sagarika Ghose also hit out at the government and claimed that the new laws are highly regressive.
“This is being reposted on the day the National Disaster Coalition government’s highly regressive new criminal laws come into effect. The new laws and the old IPC will continue at the same time as crimes cannot be judged retrospectively. Result = a complete mess in the judicial system,” he said on X.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Amit Malviya, responding to the opposition’s attacks, said, “Justice Chandrachud, while speaking (on April 20, 2024) at a conference on “India’s progressive path in the administration of criminal justice system”, described the new criminal justice system as “a watershed moment for our society”. He also said that these laws have transformed India’s legal framework on criminal justice into a new era.”
“The present Congress must recognize that the newly enacted Indian Judicial Code, Indian Civil Defence Code “And the Indian Evidence Act – which will replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act – will come into effect from July 1, 2024,” he said.
The Indian Justice Code (BNS), Indian Civil Defence Code (BNSS) and Indian Evidence Act (BSA), passed in Parliament last December, will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 and Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively.
Several new provisions have been incorporated in the three new criminal laws in keeping with contemporary times and prevalent technologies.
All the three new laws received the approval of Parliament on December 21, 2023. President Draupadi Murmu gave her assent on December 25, 2023, and it was published in the official gazette on the same day.
According to the notification, the three laws will focus on justice rather than punishment and aim to provide speedy justice, strengthen the judicial and court management system and emphasise on ‘access to justice for all’.
