Congress leader Surjewala demands wider consultations on 3 bills replacing criminal laws

New Delhi [India], August 14 (ANI): Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Sunday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of "misleading" Parliament and the people of the country about the three new bills introduced in the Lok Sabha that seek to overhaul the country's criminal justice system and demanded a wider consultations on the proposed legislations involving legal experts and public.
Surjewala claimed that without any prior intimation or public consultation or inviting suggestions from legal experts, jurists, criminologists, and other stakeholders, the Modi government introduced the three bills from its "black magic hat" on August 11.
"The introductory remarks of the Home Minister gave away the fact that Amit Shah is himself out of depth, ignorant and oblivious to the entire exercise," the Congress leader said.
"Other than some credit seeking and point scoring in desperation, a hidden exercise, away from the public glare or stakeholders' suggestions and wisdom, cannot serve the public purpose of reforming the criminal law structure of the country," Surjewala said.
"After an extensive "scrutiny" of existing and proposed laws, he said the detailed definitions of terrorism and terrorist acts already exist since the time of Indira Gandhi and "the definition of terrorists in the IPC is an eyewash," he said.
On the issue of FIR against mob lynching, Congress leader alleged that Shah has given a "huge concession" to mob lynchers.
"The BJP government has watered down the lowest punishment for mob lynching to seven years (under BNS, 2023), whereas the lowest punishment under IPC for such crime was life imprisonment," he claimed.
Surjewala further claimed that the issue of sexual assault on minors, all provisions already exist and so does the punishment of 20 years for gang rape.
"While the Bills have been referred to the Select Committee of Parliament, the Bills and its provisions must be thrown open for a larger public debate by judges, lawyers, jurists, criminologist s, reformers, stakeholders and the general public in order to stay away from the trap of bulldozing the entire criminal law structure without discussion that is so ingrained in the DNA of the BJP government. We hope that better sense will prevail," he said.
Earlier on Friday, Amit Shah introduced the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakhshya Bill, 2023, aimed at giving justice and protecting the rights given to Indian citizens by Constitution.
The bills will abolish the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Criminal Procedure Code, (1898), 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 made by the British.
The Home Minister said that Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, which will replace CrPC, will now have 533 sections. "A total of 160 sections have been changed, nine new sections have been added and nine sections have been repealed," he said.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, which will replace the IPC, will have 356 sections instead of the earlier 511 sections, the minister said, adding that 175 sections have been amended, 8 new sections have been added and 22 sections have been repealed.
Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, which will replace the Evidence Act, will now have 170 sections instead of the earlier 167. Shah said 23 sections have been changed, one new section has been added and five repealed. (ANI)