A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the three new criminal law amendment Acts - Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam [Vishal Tiwari vs Union of India and ors].
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.The three laws seek to overhaul India's criminal justice system and was passed by the parliament in its winter session last year before it received the assent of the President of India on December 25.The development was notified on the website of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, but is yet to be published in the Gazette of India as the rules are yet to the framed.Hence, the three laws are yet to come into force.
The petition by Vishal Tiwari has stressed that the laws suffer from several defects and discrepancies and ignore Law Commission recommendations.
"All three criminal laws were passed and enacted without any parliamentary debate as unfortunately most of the Members were under suspension during the period ... the title of these proposed bills does not speak about the statute and its motive but the present names of Acts are ambiguous in nature," the petitioner submitted.The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita retains most offences from the Indian Penal Code of 1860, and the new CrPC will make it difficult to get bail during the period of police custody, it has been contended.The three laws were first introduced in Lok Sabha on August 11, 2023, before being referred to a parliamentary committee headed by Brij Lal for further examination.They were eventually passed by the Lok Sabha on December 20 before being passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 21.
TAGS: Supreme Court PIL Criminal Law Amendments Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita
