Parl panel adopts 3 draft bills to replace ‘colonial’ criminal laws

NEW DELHI: The parliamentary committee examining three bills, which seek to replace as many ‘colonial-era’ laws, on Monday adopted its draft report offering a slew of amendments but sticking to their Hindi names, with nearly 10 opposition members likely to submit dissent notes.

Congress leader P Chidambaram spoke at length in the meeting offering a host of suggestions, including that the committee should define community service and what all it envisages, and wanted three instead of two days for members to file dissent notes, sources said, adding that the panel has stuck to the deadline of 48 hours.

While some opposition members such as Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary have already submitted their dissent notes, a few others are likely to submit in the next two days.

The committee, the sources said, has stuck to the Hindi names given to the bills and ignored suggestions from some opposition members, including Dayanidhi Maran, that they should have English versions too.

Home Minister Amit Shah had introduced Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam bills in Lok Sabha during the Winter session. They are meant to replace the Indian Penal Code, The Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act and were sent to the committee for scrutiny with a three-month deadline.

Shah had described the current set of laws guiding the criminal jurisprudence as a colonial legacy, a reference to their British Raj provenance, and asserted that they focussed on punishment while the proposed laws give primacy to justice.

The 30-member committee is headed by BJP MP Brij Lal.

The committee has recommended taking a more stringent view of deaths caused by negligence amid criticism that the current statute is too lenient, the sources said.