Opposition questions urgency in adoption of draft bills to replace IPC, CrPC, Evidence Act

Opposition in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has expressed their concerns regarding the expeditious adoption of the draft reports on the three bills aimed at replacing the IPC, CrPC, and the Evidence Act.

A meeting has been scheduled for later this week to address this matter.

The committee, responsible for examining the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bills, has notified its members through a formal notice that the draft reports will be adopted on October 27.

According to sources, at least two opposition MPs have written to the chairperson of the panel, raising apprehensions about the scrutiny process of the bills. They have also urged the chairperson to postpone the meeting.

Questioning the urgency, both MPs have expressed their dissatisfaction with the limited time they were given to review the three reports. These reports were only provided to them on the late evening of October 21.

Members of the panel belonging to opposition parties within the I.N.D.I.A bloc are planning to submit dissent notes against the adoption of the reports. It is worth noting that out of the 30-member panel, the BJP holds 16 seats.

Opposition MPs, who have previously raised concerns about the selection of experts for examination, have now criticized the short notice given for the meeting. They argue that several experts suggested by them have yet to be called.

In a letter addressed to the panel chairperson, one of the opposition MPs highlighted the "alarming lack" of consultation with stakeholders. They also shared a list of experts recommended by them for examination. This list includes prominent names such as former Chief Justice of India U U Lalit, retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur, eminent jurist Fali Nariman, Senior Advocate Rebecca John, and Advocate Menaka Guruswamy.

Another opposition MP, requesting a postponement of the panel's meeting, pointed out that the draft report was sent during the midst of festivals, despite the next Parliament session being at least four weeks away.

Meanwhile, TMC MPs within the panel have expressed their concern over the timing of the meeting, as it falls a day before Lakshmi Puja, a significant celebration in Bengal a few days after Durga Puja.

"It shows that the BJP does not understand anything about the culture of Bengal," said a TMC MP, who is a part of the parliamentary panel.

Raising concern about the bills, an opposition MP alleged that these proposed laws which are meant to replace the colonial-era procedural laws are "even more colonial".

The 30-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has 16 BJP MPs including the chairperson, four of the Congress, two each of DMK, TMC, JD(U) and BJD, and one of the Shiv Sena.

It was given three months to examine the three bills and submit its report after Home Minister Amit Shah had requested the Lok Sabha chair to refer the bills to the panel for threadbare examination. In the 11 meetings held so far, the panel took the views of various experts, including the Law Commission.

The IPC and the Evidence Act are colonial-era procedural laws that form the backbone of Indian criminal jurisprudence along with CrPC. 

(With PTI Inputs)