India’s legal system is giving a jittery welcome to the new criminal laws which are taking effect from today(July 1) replacing the decades-old Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure. The IPC(1860) and the Evidence Act(1872), which were enacted during the British regime, have been replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. The Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 has been replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
These laws were cleared by the Parliament in December last year. Though they received the Presidential assent the same month, their implementation was deferred by the Union Government. On February 24, the Government notified that the laws will come into force from July 1.
There are widespread concerns among the legal fraternity about the impact of the new laws, as several prominent legal luminaries, State Bar Councils and Bar Associations have voiced protests. The Bar Council of India last week assured the legal community that it would convey to the Union Government the bar’s concerns about the new laws. Proposing to form an expert committee to study the new enactments, the Bar Council appealed to the lawyers to refrain from protests and agitations against their implementation.
While the Government stated that the new laws would de-colonize the Indian legal system and modernise it, several critics argue that there was nothing substantially new in these legislations, as most of the provisions of the old laws have been retained, but with different numberings and labellings. Thus, while these laws offer nothing new in the form of reforms, they will potentially cause much hardship among police, lawyers and judges who would be compelled to learn the new sequence of the very same old provisions, the critics state. It is also pointed out the old laws would be in place for at least two or three decades more as regards pending cases and offences which took place till July 1, 2024. Thus, concerns are raised about the criminal justice system being forced to apply parallel laws simultaneously, causing potential confusion and errors.
Concerns are also raised about the new provisions expanding the scope of police custody.
The Supreme Court has refused to entertain two PILs filed challenging the new laws. While one petition was rejected on the ground that it was filed before the new laws came into effect, the other one was refused saying that it was poorly drafted.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud recently commented that the new laws will create a positive impact only if the required investments for infrastructure development and capacity building of forensic experts and investigating officers are made as soon as possible.
Here is a compilation of the articles published in LiveLaw explaining, analysing and critiquing these las.
