New Delhi:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the three proposed penal laws are people-oriented, have the flavor of Indian territory and their main objective is to protect the constitutional, human and personal rights of citizens.
In his address at the International Lawyers’ Conference organized by the Bar Association of India, Mr. Shah also said that the thrust of the three bills is also to provide justice instead of meting out punishment.
He appealed to all lawyers in the country to provide their suggestions to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS-2023), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS-2023) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA-2023) so that the country best can have laws that benefit everyone.
The three bills, introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11, will replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Criminal Procedure Act, 1898 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 respectively.
“The Indian criminal justice system was steeped in colonial law. All three new bills do not have a colonial stamp, but have the flavor of Indian soil. The central point of these three proposed laws is to protect the constitutional and human rights of citizens, as well as their personal rights,” he said.
Mr. Shah said that the initiative has been taken to make significant changes to the criminal laws keeping in mind the current demands.
“After almost 160 years, these laws come with a completely new approach and a new system. Besides new initiatives, three initiatives have also been taken by the government to create a law-friendly ecosystem,” he said.
The first is e-courts, the second interoperable criminal justice system (ICJS) and the third is adding new technology to these three proposed laws, Shah said.
“With the introduction of three laws and three systems, we will be able to eliminate delays in our criminal justice system in less than a decade,” he said.
Mr Shah said the fundamental purpose of the old laws was to strengthen British rule and that the purpose was to punish, not to provide justice. “The purpose of these three new laws is to provide justice, not punishment. Here is a step toward criminal justice.”
He said many changes have been made in the new laws to promote technology and the definition of documents has been greatly expanded.
“Legal recognition has been given to electronic and digital documents, messages available on digital devices have been recognized and subpoenas will also be considered valid in all types of electronic forms – from SMS to email,” he said.
The Home Minister said that a new provision has been added regarding mob lynching and the section regarding sedition has been abolished and legalization of community service will also take place under these new laws.
“I would like to appeal to all lawyers across the country to look into all these bills in detail. Your suggestions are very valuable. Send your suggestions to the Union Home Minister and we will definitely consider these suggestions before we finalize the laws.” he said.
Mr. Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that any law can be perfected only if stakeholders are consulted wholeheartedly.
He also said that the system of complete justice can only be understood if one starts studying the laws that affect every part of the society.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)