Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday slammed the Central government as Lok Sabha passed three criminal code bills presented by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Calling the bills "draconian", Ramesh in an X post said, "Tomorrow he (Amit Shah) will get them passed in the Rajya Sabha too without any different viewpoint expressed on them by the best legal minds. Now you know why 144 INDIA MPs were thrown out of both Houses".
The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshhya (Second) Bill 2023 have all been approved by the Lok Sabha. These bills seek to replace the Indian Penal Code of 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872.
According to Shah, if the proposed three new criminal laws are fully implemented, the Indian judicial system will be the most modern in the world.
Changes have been made for the first time in the three laws that govern the nearly 150-year-old criminal justice system, concerning Indianness, the Indian Constitution, and the people of India, according to the home minister.
All provisions in these laws have been made to equip the country's judicial system by imagining possible technological innovations that may occur over the next 100 years, he added.
According to Shah, mob lynching is a heinous crime for which the death penalty is provided in these laws.
According to him, a good balance has been maintained between police and citizen rights.
Shah stated that the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which will replace the Code of Criminal Procedure, will now have 531 sections instead of 484. A total of 177 sections have been modified, with nine new sections added and 14 repealed.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which will take the place of the Indian Penal Code, will have 358 sections rather than the previous 511.
It contains 21 new offences, the term of imprisonment has been increased in 41 offences, the penalty has been increased in 82, mandatory minimum punishment has been introduced in 25 crimes, community service as a punishment is provided in six crimes, and 19 sections have been repealed.
The Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, which will replace the Evidence Act, will have 170 sections rather than the previous 167; 24 sections have been amended, two new sections have been added, and six have been repealed.