Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Sunday that the country needs a legal system where “bail is the rule, jail is the exception”. In a recent press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Chidambaram outlined legal reforms and policy changes his party plans to introduce if it comes to power. His remarks come amidst heightened scrutiny over recent arrests, including those of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, and BRS MLC K Kavitha. The I.N.D.I.A bloc is also poised to hold a major rally in Jharkhand’s Ranchi today.
“We are also promising to bring a special law which would say 'Bail is the rule, jail is the exception'; it was a great son of Kerala, Justice Krishna laid down the law- Bail is the rule, jail is the exception, in the words of Justice Krishna,” he said.
“This rule is rarely followed in the lower judiciary, Magistrates, and district judges, ultimately not everybody can go to the Supreme Court to get bail. 65% of the prisoners are undertrial, they are not convicts, so why are they in jail,” Chidambaram said.
He added, “90% of the undertrials are OBCs, SC and ST, therefore, we would bring a special law 'Bail is the rule, jail is the exception'- everybody after the first 15 days of interrogation by police or the CBI must be granted bail".
Addressing legislative changes, Chidambaram vowed to repeal, amend, and review several laws–introduced by the BJP government–including the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019.
“We will repeal, amend and review the following sets of laws- CAA 2019, it is top of the list,” he said, adding, “The Farmers Produce, Trade and Commerce Promotion of Facilitation Act 2020, the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita that is equivalent to IPC, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita that is the CrPC and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) act that is the evidence act.
“These five will be totally repealed. Then we have eight laws that will be repealed and new laws will be made. Then we have 25 laws that will be amended and brought on par with the Constitution. So we are absolutely clear that the Citizenship Amendment Act will be repealed,” the former Union Minister said at a press conference today.
Highlighting unemployment as a pressing issue, the senior Congress leader said, “The greatest challenge to India is unemployment; some sections underestimate this problem, but this is the greatest problem. In my experience, we never had such a high rate of unemployment.”
“The labour participation rate has come down, the working population number has come down, female labour participation has come down drastically and unemployment is the highest among graduates. Among graduates, the unemployment is as much as 42%, which is why we have this humiliating phenomenon of graduates, post-graduates and engineers,” he added.
Expressing confidence in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s electoral prospects in Wayanad, Chidambaram said, “The people of Wayanad will re-elect Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by a resounding majority.”
“On the day the results come, the people of Wayanad will send a message of sympathy to PM Narendra Modi,” he told ANI.