New Delhi: As the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) came into effect from Monday (July 1) replacing the Indian Penal Code, 1860, multiple FIRs have been registered against street vendors across the country. In Gujarat, at least two FIRs have been reportedly registered against street vendors while an FIR was registered in Delhi against a street vendor and later cancelled after the move was widely criticised on social media. Similarly, in North Goa an FIR was registered against a coconut seller.
The cancellation of the FIR against the Delhi vendor which was reported as the first case under the new criminal code was cancelled as “perception management exercise where the authorities did not want the first case to be that of taking action against a street vendor,” Deccan Herald reported.
Interestingly, contradictory claims started coming in about the first FIR registered under the new law.
According to the news agency ANI, the first FIR under the BNS was registered at the Kamla Market police station in New Delhi. A street vendor was booked under the section 285 of the BNS for encroaching space near the foot over bridge of the New Delhi railway station and selling items.
According to the FIR registered at the Kamla Market police station, the accused had been identified as Pankaj Kumar, a resident of Barh (a Nagar Parishad in Patna district) in Bihar. The police had said in the FIR that the accused was selling tobacco and water on a cart near the main road, which was causing trouble to the passers-by. When the police patrolling the area asked the accused to remove his cart, he ignored the officers.
The incident was reported at 12:15 AM and the case was registered at 1:30 AM, reported the Press Trust of India.
The news of this FIR caught the attention of social media users and Opposition parties, including the Congress which slammed the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
“Narendra Modi does not believe in the Constitution. This is the reason why 146 MPs were suspended and new criminal laws were brought. Today these laws have been implemented across the country and its first victim is a street vendor. According to reports, this person was struggling to earn his livelihood in Delhi, an FIR was lodged against him,’ Opposition Congress posted on X.
Subsequently, Union home minister Amit Shah came before the media and claimed that the first case has not been registered against a street vendor but in an incident of bike theft in Gwalior.
“The first case (under the new laws) has been registered in a police station in Gwalior. It was a case of theft. Someone’s motorcycle was stolen. The case was registered at 12.10 AM in the night. As far as the case against a street vendor is concerned, there were provisions for this earlier as well. This is not a new provision. The police used the new provision to review it and then dismissed the case,” Shah said.
However, owing to contradicting claims, there is no clarity about the Gwalior FIR, which the home minister is calling the country’s first FIR registered under the BNS.
Dainik Bhaskar reported that the first FIR under the BNS was registered at the Hanumanganj police station in Bhopal at 12:05 AM. The report said that the FIR was registered under section 296 of the BNS by complainant Prafulla Chauhan, against accused Harbhajan who allegedly abused the complainant.
A similar claim came from the Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh, wherein an FIR was registered at the Kabirdham police station by Itwari, a 30-year-old man who alleged that one Golu Thackeray of Rengakhar village used abusive language and threatened to beat him up. The FIR was registered at 12:30 am under sections 296 and 351 (2) of the BNS.
The Indian Express reported that four out of the seven FIRs in Gujarat under the new criminal law were registered in Gandhinagar. The first FIR in the state was filed against 19-year-old Vishal Rajput, who was accused of obstructing the main entrance of a bus depot by leaving his snack cart near the entrance. Likewise, a case was registered against 19-year-old Dinesh Keshuram Gujjar under section 285 of the BNS Act for blocking a public road with his pani puri cart, thereby obstructing traffic, the report added.
In Gujarat, two other FIRs were registered against an auto driver for allegedly “driving rashly” and another person for “parking his motorcycle that obstructed public movement,” IE reported.
News Meter reported that a coconut seller in North Goa had to face the heat on the first day the BNS came into effect as an FIR was filed against him for “intentionally moving his hand craft” on the side of the road and “causing inconvenience/obstruction” to the public and disrupting traffic.
Notably, all the eight cases pertain to minor crimes, and a majority of the accused are street vendors, counted amongst the underprivileged sections of the society.
Highlighting the gravity of the matter, the Karnataka Pragatipara Beedhi Vyaparigala Sangha (affiliated to the All India Central Council of Trade Unions) wrote in a press statement: “Street vendors do not have the wherewithal to go and challenge FIRs. Registering such arbitrary FIRs will have a chilling effect on street vending. In the earlier IPC this section carried a fine of Rs 200. Under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, it now carries a fine of Rs 5,000. Under the earlier IPC, police used this provision to harass vendors. Street vendors who cannot afford to undergo trial, attend court and miss business would pay Rs 200 fine so as to avoid any issues. Under the new criminal laws they will now have to pay Rs 5000 and this will discourage people from vending itself.”
Further, the trade union group has appealed to the Karnataka government to not implement the criminal codes in the state and to ensure that all laws pertaining to street vendors are followed by the law enforcement authorities
Additionally, two other criminal laws, the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) have replaced the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 respectively.
The Opposition Congress has been opposing these three laws which were passed during the winter session of the 17thLok Sabha, right from the beginning.
“After the political and moral setback in the elections, Modi ji and the BJP are pretending to respect the Constitution, but the truth is that the three laws of the criminal justice system that are being implemented from today were forcibly passed by suspending 146 MPs. INDIA will no longer allow this “bulldozer justice” to work on the parliamentary system,” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X on Monday.
The central government continued to praise the laws, with Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal hailing the three news laws a day before they were implemented.
(With inputs from Ankit Raj)
