New criminal laws don’t reflect “collective wisdom” of Parliament, must be put on hold: Manish Tewari

New Delhi [India], June 17 (ANI): Congress leader Manish Tewari on Sunday lashed out at Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal over the three new criminal laws, saying they were passed when a record 146 Opposition MPs were suspended from the Parliament, and it does not reflect the “collective wisdom” of the Parliament.

Alleging that Law Minister Meghwal is being “economical with the truth”, Tewari said the implementation of the three laws will be “tantamount to throwing a spanner” into India’s legal system.

“The Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is being economical with the truth. The three new Criminal Laws were arbitrarily passed in Parliament after suspending a record of 146 MPs belonging to the opposition. These three laws reflect the will of only a section of Parliament who then sat on the Treasury benches. They do not reflect the collective wisdom of Parliament,” the Congress leader wrote on social media platform X.

“Even the dissenting views expressed by learned members of the Standing Parliamentary Committee of Home Affairs were not taken on board. The implementation of these laws from July 1st, 2024 will be tantamount to throwing a spanner into India’s legal system,” he added.

The Congress leader demanded that the implementation of the three laws must be put a hold, stating that some of the provisions contained by these laws amount to “broader assault on Civil liberties.”

“The operationalisation of these laws must be put on hold till the time Parliament does not ‘collectively reapply’ itself to these three legislations. Certain provisions in these laws represent the broadest assault on Civil liberties since the foundation of the Indian Republic,” the Chandigarh MP stated.

This comes after Union Law and Justice Minister, Meghwal on Sunday, affirmed that the new Criminal Laws will come into force on July 1, 2024.

Earlier, Meghwal said that IPC, CrPC, and Indian Evidence Act are changing. After following the due consultation process and keeping in mind the reports of the Law Commission of India, the three laws have been changed.

The three criminal laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam — were passed in the Parliament last year that will replace Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita will have 358 sections (instead of 511 sections in the IPC). A total of 20 new crimes have been added to the bill, and the imprisonment sentence has been increased for 33 of them. The amount of the fine has been increased in 83 crimes and mandatory minimum punishment has been introduced in 23 crimes. The penalty of community service has been introduced for six crimes and 19 sections have been repealed or removed from the bill.

Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita will have 531 sections (in place of 484 sections of CrPC). A total of 177 provisions have been changed in the bill, and nine new sections as well as 39 new sub-sections have been added to it. The draft act has added 44 new provisions and clarifications. Timelines have been added to 35 sections and audio-video provision has been added at 35 places.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam will have 170 provisions (instead of the original 167 provisions), and a total of 24 provisions have been changed. A total of 14 sections have been repealed and removed from the bill. Two new provisions and six sub-provisions have been added and six provisions have been repealed or deleted from the bill.