New Delhi: The three new penal laws, which replaced the British-era penal statutes on Monday, have provoked mixed reactions among legal luminaries: some hailed them as "a significant step" towards modernizing the criminal justice system, while that others described them as "draconian" and "cosmetic".
The new laws, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), came into force across the country from July 1 and replaced the Indian Penal Code, Code of Procedure Penal. and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said an opportunity to make genuine reforms has been wasted and "cosmetic changes" have been brought in the new laws, ignoring the crucial aspect of the huge number of cases pending in courts, especially in the courts of first instance.However, Adish C Aggarwala, senior advocate and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), termed the new criminal laws as an important step towards modernizing the criminal justice delivery system and the delivery of justice with specific deadlines.
This view was shared by senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani, also a BJP MP, and Vikas Pahwa.
Lawyer and Congress MP Manish Tewari called the new laws "pernicious and draconian in nature in their implementation". Activist lawyer Kamini Jaiswal agreed with Tewari and called them a "disaster". Significantly, the apex body of lawyers, the Bar Council of India (BCI), supported the laws and recently urged all bar associations in the entire country to refrain from any immediate agitation or protest against the implementation of the new criminal laws.
"One of the important changes brought by the new laws is the introduction of specific deadlines for conducting trials and issuing verdicts," said former SCBA president Aggarwala, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of the Interior of the Union, Amit Shah, for decolonizing the penal laws of the British era. .
He said that after hearing the arguments, the judges must issue a ruling within 30 days from the date of completion of the arguments, which may be extended to a period of 45 days, after stating the reasons in writing. Jethmalani said that The opposition parties do not understand that these laws are for everyone, for prosecutions, for victims and for criminals.
"I don't understand what provision is the problem. They just say whatever and they haven't looked at the provisions," he said.
Pahwa said: "I think there are many positive points if we read them as a whole. Of course, there is also a negative side. The biggest positive point would be the implementation of technology. The entire criminal justice system will now be governed by technology." He said trials will be expedited if the laws are followed in the right spirit. "This is an opportunity to create genuine reform. Unfortunately, what has happened are cosmetic changes, 90 percent remain the same, the numbers have changed, a few words they changed here and there..." Singhvi said.
He said another thing that has been completely forgotten is that judges are fighting backlogs.
"Our lower courts have around three and a half to four million backlog, our High Courts have around 60 crore backlog, the Supreme Court has around 75,000 to 80,000 backlog," he said. Singhvi said, "When the law with a comma, period, it gives a smart prosecutor or a smart defense attorney the opportunity to say: all 100 years and 200 years of jurisprudence on that provision have been changed by the change of a comma, period."
"So if you make cosmetic changes to three basic laws like IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act... you are giving yourself the opportunity to massively increase the arrears and that is what worries me," he said.
When asked about the new criminal laws that will come into force from today, activist lawyer Kamini Jaiswal said: "I think it is a disaster. I don't understand who benefits, not the common people, not the lawyers, not the agencies. of research, nor anyone. And I would like the government to take into account other things, how it helps unemployment." "The CrPC was modified in 2013. What are they trying to show? This is simply the arrogance of power. people who don't know Hindi? Judges say they will only use old terms. In local courts, there will be a delay in justice," he said.
Tewari said the new laws will hamper the functioning of the Indian criminal justice system.
"Starting today, two parallel systems will be in play. All cases registered before midnight on June 30, 2024 will be processed under the old system and those cases registered after midnight on June 30, 2024 will be processed. processed under the new system. "There are 3.4 million cases pending and most of them are criminal cases, so there will be complete confusion," he claimed. Former Law Minister and prominent advocate Ashwini Kumar said these Three new laws have sparked nationwide controversy.
"Many people think that nothing has changed substantially as technologies are used. Nobody disputes that, but essentially nothing has changed substantially," he said.
The new laws, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), came into force across the country from July 1 and replaced the Indian Penal Code, Code of Procedure Penal. and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said an opportunity to make genuine reforms has been wasted and "cosmetic changes" have been brought in the new laws, ignoring the crucial aspect of the huge number of cases pending in courts, especially in the courts of first instance.However, Adish C Aggarwala, senior advocate and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), termed the new criminal laws as an important step towards modernizing the criminal justice delivery system and the delivery of justice with specific deadlines.
This view was shared by senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani, also a BJP MP, and Vikas Pahwa.
Lawyer and Congress MP Manish Tewari called the new laws "pernicious and draconian in nature in their implementation". Activist lawyer Kamini Jaiswal agreed with Tewari and called them a "disaster". Significantly, the apex body of lawyers, the Bar Council of India (BCI), supported the laws and recently urged all bar associations in the entire country to refrain from any immediate agitation or protest against the implementation of the new criminal laws.
"One of the important changes brought by the new laws is the introduction of specific deadlines for conducting trials and issuing verdicts," said former SCBA president Aggarwala, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of the Interior of the Union, Amit Shah, for decolonizing the penal laws of the British era. .
He said that after hearing the arguments, the judges must issue a ruling within 30 days from the date of completion of the arguments, which may be extended to a period of 45 days, after stating the reasons in writing. Jethmalani said that The opposition parties do not understand that these laws are for everyone, for prosecutions, for victims and for criminals.
"I don't understand what provision is the problem. They just say whatever and they haven't looked at the provisions," he said.
Pahwa said: "I think there are many positive points if we read them as a whole. Of course, there is also a negative side. The biggest positive point would be the implementation of technology. The entire criminal justice system will now be governed by technology." He said trials will be expedited if the laws are followed in the right spirit. "This is an opportunity to create genuine reform. Unfortunately, what has happened are cosmetic changes, 90 percent remain the same, the numbers have changed, a few words they changed here and there..." Singhvi said.
He said another thing that has been completely forgotten is that judges are fighting backlogs.
"Our lower courts have around three and a half to four million backlog, our High Courts have around 60 crore backlog, the Supreme Court has around 75,000 to 80,000 backlog," he said. Singhvi said, "When the law with a comma, period, it gives a smart prosecutor or a smart defense attorney the opportunity to say: all 100 years and 200 years of jurisprudence on that provision have been changed by the change of a comma, period."
"So if you make cosmetic changes to three basic laws like IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act... you are giving yourself the opportunity to massively increase the arrears and that is what worries me," he said.
When asked about the new criminal laws that will come into force from today, activist lawyer Kamini Jaiswal said: "I think it is a disaster. I don't understand who benefits, not the common people, not the lawyers, not the agencies. of research, nor anyone. And I would like the government to take into account other things, how it helps unemployment." "The CrPC was modified in 2013. What are they trying to show? This is simply the arrogance of power. people who don't know Hindi? Judges say they will only use old terms. In local courts, there will be a delay in justice," he said.
Tewari said the new laws will hamper the functioning of the Indian criminal justice system.
"Starting today, two parallel systems will be in play. All cases registered before midnight on June 30, 2024 will be processed under the old system and those cases registered after midnight on June 30, 2024 will be processed. processed under the new system. "There are 3.4 million cases pending and most of them are criminal cases, so there will be complete confusion," he claimed. Former Law Minister and prominent advocate Ashwini Kumar said these Three new laws have sparked nationwide controversy.
"Many people think that nothing has changed substantially as technologies are used. Nobody disputes that, but essentially nothing has changed substantially," he said.
