Madras HC tells Centre to respond to plea against new criminal laws

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the Union government to file counter to the petitions preferred by the Federation of Bar Association of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry against the implementation of three new criminal laws replacing the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act.

The first bench of acting Chief Justice D Krishnakumar and Justice M Jothiraman heard the petitions moved by the Federation of Bar Association of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry seeking to declare the new criminal bills as unconstitutional. The new criminal laws, Bharathiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharathiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharathiya Sakshya Adhiniyam are manifestly arbitrary violating Article 14 of the Constitution as they deleted and inserted certain provisions from the old acts without any sufficient reason, said association.

The way the Centre rushed to pass the Bills in the Parliament and the way it was rushed to be implemented is not desirable in democracy, the association submitted. These laws were neither adequately discussed in the parliament committee nor extensively discussed in both Houses, even though no consultation was held with the stakeholders, read the petition.

After the submission, the bench directed the Centre to respond to the petition and tagged it along with the other petitions challenging the implementation of new criminal bills.