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Synopsis

Senior Advocate P Wilson has written to the Cabinet Minister (Law and Justice) Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal to stop the implementation of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,  Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam until extensive consultation with all the Stakeholders is held.

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023,  Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 have been enacted by the government seeking to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860; the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

"...whenever a Bill has been introduced in the Parliament which intends to overhaul or bring a substantial change in the field, the bill always has been subject to numerous Committees that involve a comprehensive consultation state wise with all the stakeholders such as State Governments, Judges, Police Authorities, Bar Council of India, State Bar Councils, Advocate Association, Bar Associations, Senior Advocates, Advocates, Women lawyer Association, Eminent Jurists, Academicians and various luminaries etc.", the letters states.

The Law Minister has further been told that apart from removing references of colonial administration, the three Acts in fact do not bring a substantial change, instead they introduce new provisions which substitute the words “sedition” to “Acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”; capital punishment for mob lynching, provisions for electronic evidence etc. which need to be examined by expert bodies/commissions constituted by the Government.

"While examining the above 3 new Bills, it has to be considered whether we can amend the existing The Indian Penal Code, The Criminal Procedure Code and The Indian Evidence Act, either by deleting or incorporating new provisions thereby bringing actual reforms so as to make the criminal justice delivery system more efficient and user friendly instead of thrusting the old wine in a new bottle...", the senior lawyer adds.

It is to be noted that a PIL has been recently filed before the Supreme Court of India seeking directions to Immediately constitute an Expert Committee to assess the viability of the three new amended Criminal Laws, "The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023”, “The Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023” And “The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023”.

It has been further sought that a stay on the operation and implementation of the three new Criminal laws be granted.

Additionally, the PIL says the introduction of new criminal laws can potentially impact lawyers in various ways, posing a range of challenges. "...the new criminal bills does not bring any new changes from the previous ones. It a way to create confusion among citizen and provide more power to police and suppress the fundamental rights of people. The main motive of the bills were to decolonize the Indian laws, but in contrary the same laws are being repeated with no new explanations with additional powers granted to the police to rule people out of fear and depriving the fundamental rights...", it adds.

Notably, on May 20th a vacation bench of the Supreme Court dismissed a PIL seeking a stay on three criminal laws passed in December 2023 to replace British era Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act, due to various "defects and discrepancies".

In December 2023, Centre had introduced a fresh set of draft legislations to replace the existing criminal laws after incorporating recommendations of a parliamentary panel set up in the Lok Sabha.

Home Minister Amit Shah later withdrew the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023 and then introduced 'The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023', 'The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023' and 'The Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023', which are to replace the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.