New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed the new criminal law bills that were passed by the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (December 21), calling it a “watershed moment” in India’s history.
The three new Bills include the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam Bill to replace the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill to replace the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.
The legislations were passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday in the absence of 97 opposition MPs who had been suspended amid demands for a statement from Union home minister Amit Shah on the security breach in parliament last week.
The Bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha with empty opposition benches after a debate that lasted close to six hours and saw the absence of the opposition.
A total of 146 MPs have been suspended since December 14.
The debate in the Rajya Sabha saw mostly MPs from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) participating in the discussion, along with parliamentarians from other parties friendly to it including the BJD, YSRCP and AIADMK.
Modi, who was not in the House, took to X (formerly Twitter) to hail the passage of the Bills and said that a new era has begun.
“The passage of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 is a watershed moment in our history. These Bills mark the end of colonial-era laws. A new era begins with laws centered on public service and welfare,” he said.
Modi said that these “transformative Bills are a testament to India’s commitment to reform.”
“They bring our legal, policing, and investigative systems into the modern era with a focus on technology and forensic science. These Bills ensure enhanced protection for the poor, marginalised and vulnerable sections of our society.”
“At the same time, these Bills come down heavily on organised crime, terrorism and such offences which strike at the root of our peaceful journey to progress. Through them, we have also bid goodbye to the outdated sections on sedition.”
In his reply at the close of the debate, Shah also said that the Bills will usher in a new era and that the goals of the legislation is to not punish but provide justice.
“The three Bills I have tabled today are not intended at punishing, but giving justice,” he added.
“The soul of these laws is Indian and for the first time, our criminal justice system will be governed by laws made by India, for India and made in Indian Parliament,” he said.
The three new Bills were first introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11 and were then referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee. The Committee submitted its report on November 10. The Union government withdrew the Bills earlier this month and reintroduced them in the winter session.
TDP MP Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar pointed out that contrary to the Union government’s claims, sedition has been retained in the new laws.
“The BNS introduces new provision which criminalises acts endangering sovereignty, unity, integrity of India. The essence of sedition then has been retained in the new laws,” he said.
BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani said that the redrafting of Section 124A reflects nationalistic aspect of the Bills.
“I welcome the wording of the new section punishing anyone creating disaffection, not against the government of the day, but against the government of the day. That is the rashtravaadi aspect of this bill and every Indian nationalist should welcome it,” he said.
Shah also reiterated what he said in the Lok Sabha and said that the Bills do away with sedition but include punishment for acting against the country.
“We have abolished the English concept of sedition. Now anyone can speak against the government, because everyone has the right to freedom of speech. But if you speak against the country, harm its interests, you will get the harshest punishment,” he said.
He also accused the Congress of never bringing an end to sedition and said that the Modi government has ensured that it is done away with.
“Congress never wanted to end sedition. This is the Modi government, which is ending sedition forever.”
After its passage in Lok Sabha, Congress MP P. Chidambaram accused the Modi government of “copy paste” in the three new Bills.
“Has the government really dumped the British “colonial” criminal laws? Consider the fact that 90-95% of IPC, 95% of CrPC and 99% of Evidence Act have been cut, copied and pasted in the three Bills: can any one deny or debate that fact? In fact, the government has immortalised Macaulay and Fitz Stephen who drafted the original IPC and Evidence Act,” he wrote on X.
“The opportunity to replace and redraft the laws has been wasted.”
Eight opposition MPs from the Congress, TMC, and DMK in their dissent notes to the report adopted by the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs had flagged that the new Bills were “largely a copy paste” of existing laws, opposed their Hindi names, and pointed to lack of consultation and diversity of domain expert opinion and questioned the “haste” in which the legislations are being introduced.
Writing in The Wire, G. Mohan Gopal noted that even in their redrafted form, the Bills “weaponise the police and the criminal justice system to give the political leadership at all levels – centre, state and local – even greater opportunity to abuse the criminal justice system for political gain through selective, targeted and politically biased prosecution against ideological and political rivals.”
