By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to undergo his first litmus test from July 1, the date scheduled for implementation of the three new criminal laws –The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) – on account of strong opposition from the various section of the society, including the State Bar Councils and Bar associations across the country and a demand for a comprehensive review by the Parliament of India, where the people of the country have just sent a very strong opposition. These laws will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and Indian Evidence Act (IEA).
Numerous representations from Bar Councils of States and Bar Associations across the country have been sent to the Bar Council of India (BCI), which BCI has acknowledged in its resolution passed on July 26, expressing strong protest against the three new criminal laws, and signalling their intent to go for an indefinite agitation and protest unless the laws are withdrawn or suspended, subjected to thorough nationwide discussions, including a comprehensive review by the Parliament of India.
It is worth recalling that Modi government had successfully avoided any meaningful discussion on the three criminal laws in the Lok Sabha by resorting to suspension of almost entire opposition members in the Lok Sabha during the winter session held in December 2023. These were passed on December 21, President’s assent was procured by the government in a hurry on December 25, 2023 and notified the same day.
The opposition members of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs had submitted their dissent in the final report, however, the Modi government went ahead with passage of the laws in the Parliament of India applying the brute force of majority after the Speaker Om Birla’s action of expelling almost the entire opposition from the Lok Sabha.
Even recently, the opposition has demanded a parliamentary review of the three laws. CM Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal has sent a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging that the Centre should not implement the laws as they were passed in undue haste and called for a comprehensive parliamentary review.
However, the Centre under PM Narendra Modi has said that it was fully and extensively prepared for the roll out of the three controversial criminal laws from July 1, 2024. So far, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has made 23 functional modifications in the existing Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS) application under which all cases are registered now in every police station in the country. The NCRB is also providing technical assistance to states and Union Territories to help in transition to the new system that envisaged greater use of technology in the criminal justice system for which the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed three apps — eSakshya, NyayShruti and eSummon — which will facilitate videography and photography of crime scenes, judicial hearings and delivery of court summons electronically.
Initially, Modi government had planned to implement the three laws before the Lok Sabha election 2024, but the idea had to be abandoned because the laws attracted stiff immediate resistance and protest across the country. Just after a week of the notification, truck drivers across the country went on three-day nationwide strike against certain provision of the new criminal laws. The entire country suffered unprecedented disruption of supplies which enforced the Centre on the second day of the strike on January 2, 2024, to realise that the implementation of the three new criminal laws was sure to have great political impact on the ruling establishment. It announced that the provisions related to transport sectors would not be implemented until they are discussed with the agitating All India Motor Transport Congress. After talks with the Centres and the trucker’s association, Transport Congress had called of the strike, but it made clear that implementation of the three new criminal laws would prove to be Pandora’s Box, having too many evils, to come out during the course of implementation.
The Bar Council of India, a statutory body created by the Parliament of India to regulate and represent the Indian Bar, in its resolution of June 26, has now requested the Bar Associations and States’ Bar Councils across India to refrain from any form of agitation or protest at this juncture against the newly-introduced criminal laws, but has said that it would initiate discussions with the Union government, represented by the Union Home Minister and the Union Law Minister, to convey the concerns they have raised.
The BCI has note the concerns raised by the legal fraternity which included their perceptions that several provisions of these new criminal laws are anti-people, more draconian than the colonial-era laws that these new laws intend to replace, and pose a serious threat to the fundamental rights of the citizens of the country.
Additionally, the Bar Associations across the country have also called for a fresh examination of the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) asserting than these laws contravene the principles of the fundamental right as per the Constitution of India, and the principles of natural justice.
The BCI had requested all Bar Associations of the country and Senior Advocates to submit specific provisions of the new criminal laws deed unconstitutional or detrimental so that it could initiate and facilitate a productive dialogue with the Centre. On receipt of the suggestions, BCI intends to constitute a committee of noted Senior Advocates, former judges, Social Activists, and journalists to proposed necessary amendments to these new criminal laws. The BCI has assured the Bar Associations and States’ Bar Councils that the concerns raised are being taken seriously.
In the meantime, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been moved on June 27 in the Supreme Court of India against these three criminal laws seeking specific directions to immediately constitute and expert committee to assess and identify the viability of these three new laws along with a stay on their implementation.
West Bengal Bar Council has declared a black day protest on July 1 against implementation of these criminal laws. Lawyers of West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands would abstain from all judicial work in protest. Many more protest resolutions are likely to be passed across the country, though the President of India Draupadi Murmu has said during her joint parliamentary address today that these laws will provide justice rather than punishment. (IPA Service)
