Kapil Sibal says three criminal law bills don't have any 'Indian-ness' in them

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Top Indian lawyer and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal Monday said that the three criminal bills that aim to replace Indian Penal Code and, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act have provisions which are 90 per cent same as the existing laws.

The former Union Minister said that the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita Bill, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita Bill and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill are more rigorous than the 'colonial' ones and they don't have any 'Indian-ness' in them.

"Firstly, the manner in which these bills were passed, I think that our constitutional institutions should not have passed the bills in this manner. You suspended 100 people from Lok Sabha and 46 people from Rajya Sabha. And when this bill was discussed in the committee, we requested them to consult eminent lawyers for these bills but they chose to go with their leaders. Then they brought it to the Parliament and passed it without any debate," Sibal said.

He said, these bills are 90 per cent and just a translated version of the existing laws and are more rigorous than the 'colonial' ones. "I don't see any 'Indian-ness' in them," he added.

The Rajya Sabha on December 21 passed the three criminal bills--the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023; and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023--replacing the IPC, the CrPC and the Evidence Act. The bills were earlier passed by the Lok Sabha.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita will have 358 sections (instead of 511 sections in the IPC). A total of 20 new crimes have been added to the bill, and the imprisonment sentence has been increased for 33 of them. The amount of the fine has been increased in 83 crimes and mandatory minimum punishment has been introduced in 23 crimes. The penalty of community service has been introduced for six crimes and 19 sections have been repealed or removed from the bill.

Giving prominence to crimes against women and children, murder and crimes against the nation, these three bills were passed by voice vote.

YSRCP, BJD, TDP, AIADMK, TMC (M), and UPP (L) leaders took part in the debate supporting the three bills, with many of them giving suggestions for holding English titles for them along with Hindi.

However, the majority of the opposition members did not attend the debate on Wednesday, when the three bills were passed in the Lok Sabha. (With inputs from agencies)