The Congress on Sunday accused Home Minister Amit Shah of misleading Parliament and the people about certain provisions in the three bills replacing criminal laws and demanded wider consultations on the proposed legislation.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said that the Modi government introduced the three bills from its “black magic hat” without any prior intimation or public consultation or inviting suggestions from legal experts, jurists, criminologists, and other stakeholders.
“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,” Surjewala 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,” the Congress leader added.
Shah had introduced the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill, 2023; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Bill, 2023; and Bharatiya Sakshya (BS) Bill, 2023 that will replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Criminal Procedure Act, 1898, and Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively. He had also urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer the three bills for examination by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs.
Surjewala countered Shah’s remarks on the changes made through the bills and alleged that he had “lied and misled” on many points of the proposed legislation.
“While the Bills have been referred to the Select Committee of Parliament, the Bills and their provisions must be thrown open for a larger public debate by judges, lawyers, jurists, criminologists, 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,” the Congress leader said.
