TMC government is violating and insulting the Constitution: WB BJP President Sukanta Majumdar

Kolkata [India], July 19 (ANI): Union Minister and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar criticised the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) government on Friday, accusing them of violating and insulting the Constitution by forming a special seven-member committee to scrutinise three new criminal laws.

Majumdar said that no committee can probe a law like that that had been passed in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He further stated that there is no such provision for this in the constitution.

“A law that has been introduced by the central government and has been passed in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, no such committee can probe a law like that. There is no such provision in the Constitution. They (the TMC government) are violating and insulting the Constitution, ” he said.

On Wednesday, July 17, the West Bengal government constituted a special seven-member committee to scrutinise three new criminal laws, including the Bhartiya Nayay Sanhita, before implementing them in the state.

In a notification issued by the government, it was mentioned that Asim Kumar Roy, Malay Ghatak, Chandrima Bhattacharya, LD Advocate General Kishore Dutta, Sanjay Basu, West Bengal Police DG Rajiv Kumar and Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal will form the seven-member committee.

The notification further said that the Committee shall have the power to engage academic experts, senior advocates, research assistants, and other legal experts to seek their views on the subject matter.

The government, in its notification, further mentioned, “Given the importance and wide-ranging implications of the three laws, the state government deems it necessary to constitute a committee that shall examine the following: suggest state-specific amendments as required to the three criminal laws; whether the names of the criminal laws are required to be changed at the state level; and any other matter that the committee may consider necessary.”

Under the new criminal laws, which came into force on July 1, 2024, the FIR is to be recorded within three days of complaints submitted through electronic communication, providing impetus to the initial phase of criminal cases. The competent court has to now frame charges within sixty days from the first hearing on the charge.

A novel inclusion in the new criminal laws is the introduction of ‘trial in absentia’ against proclaimed offenders after ninety days from charge framing, expediting proceedings and ensuring timely delivery of justice to victims and society at large.

The criminal courts have now been mandated to pronounce judgements within 45 days after a trial has concluded to ensure swift justice delivery. Further, the said courts have to upload the judgement within seven days from the date of pronouncement on their respective portals, improving access to justice for all.