Criminal laws passed ‘forcibly’, INDIA will not allow ‘bulldozer justice’: Mallikarjun Kharge

The three new criminal laws came into effect in the country on Monday, bringing far-reaching changes in India’s criminal justice system.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) take into account some of the current social realities and modern-day crimes.

The new laws replaced the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.

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‘Passed forcible’

In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said, “After the political and moral shock in the elections, Modi ji and the BJP are pretending to respect the Constitution, but the truth is that the three laws of the criminal justice system which are being implemented from today, were passed forcibly after suspension of 146 MPs.”

“INDIA will no longer allow this ‘bulldozer justice’ to prevail in the parliamentary system,” he asserted.

चुनाव में राजनीतिक व नैतिक झटके के बाद मोदी जी और भाजपा वाले संविधान का आदर करने का ख़ूब दिखावा कर रहें हैं, पर सच तो ये है कि आज से जो आपराधिक न्याय प्रणाली के तीन क़ानून लागू हो रहे हैं, वो 146 सांसदों को सस्पेंड कर जबरन पारित किए गए।

INDIA अब ये “बुलडोज़र न्याय” संसदीय…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 1, 2024

In a post on X, Chidambaram said, “90-99 per cent of the so-called new laws are a cut, copy and paste job. A task that could have been completed with a few amendments to the existing three laws has been turned into a wasteful exercise.”

“Yes, there are a few improvements in the new laws and we have welcomed them. They could have been introduced as amendments. On the other hand, there are several retrograde provisions. Some changes are prima facie unconstitutional,” he said.

MPs who were members of the standing committee pored over the provisions and wrote detailed dissent notes to the three bills, the senior leader said.

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‘Did not answer criticisms’

Chidambaram added the government did not rebut or answer any of the criticisms in the dissent notes and there was no worthwhile debate in Parliament.

“Law scholars, bar associations, judges and lawyers have in numerous articles and seminars pointed out the grave deficiencies in the three new laws. No one in government has cared to answer the questions,” he said.

“It is another case of bulldozing three existing laws and replace them with three new Bills without adequate discussion and debate,” Chidambaram said.

The initial impact will be to throw the administration of criminal justice into disarray, he said.

“In the medium term, numerous challenges to the laws will be instituted in various courts. In the long term, further changes must be made to the three laws to bring them in conformity with the Constitution and the modern principles of criminal jurisprudence,” Chidambaram said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who piloted the laws, had said the new laws would give priority to providing justice, unlike the colonial-era laws that gave primacy to penal action.

From Monday, all fresh FIRs will be registered under the BNS. However, cases filed earlier will continue to be tried under the old laws till their final disposal.

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