Defining terror to death for lynching: Lok Sabha nod for 3 Bills on new criminal laws

Piloting the Bills, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said these are aimed at indigenising laws originally enacted by the British.

According to the government, three specific provisions that have been symbols of colonial imprint in the IPC – sedition, criminalisation of homosexuality and adultery – have been repealed.

The fine print, however, shows that the offence of sedition, currently rendered inoperable by a Supreme Court order, has had a name change from ‘rajdroh’ to ‘deshdroh’.

Replying to the debate on the Bills in the House, where rows of empty benches marked the Opposition block following the suspension of 97 Opposition members, Shah used the opportunity to sharpen attacks on Congress.

He strongly defended provisions of the Bills including change in sedition provisions and defining terrorism, and asserted that any act against the nation will be punishable.

“This is not the rule of the British. This is not the rule of Congress. This is the rule of BJP and Narendra Modi… No argument of saving terrorism will work here,” he said.

“For the first time, laws are being made according to the spirit of our Constitution under the leadership of Modi ji. I am proud to have changed these three laws after 150 years,” he said.

“Kuchh log kahate thhay ki hum inhe nahin samajhte, mein unhein kahata hoon ki mann agar Bharatiya rakhoge to samajh mein aa jayega. Lekin agar mann hee Italy ka hai, toh kabhi samajh nahin aayega (Some people used to say that we do not understand them, I tell them that if you keep your mind as an Indian then you will understand. But if your mind is of Italy, you will never understand),” Shah said, taking a swipe at the Gandhi family.

The three Bills were first introduced in August on the last day of the monsoon session of Parliament and were referred to a Parliamentary standing committee. The standing committee, headed by BJP MP Brij Lal, met stakeholders in nine meetings over six days between September and October.

While the report largely “welcomed” the laws, it suggested some changes. Opposition members in the committee, including Congress leader P Chidambaram and TMC leader Derek O’ Brien, had dissented citing concerns over limited time for consultations and the choice of domain experts consulted.

Listing the BJP’s poll promises fulfilled by the NDA government, Shah said, “We had said that we will remove Article 370 and 35-A, we removed it… We had promised that we would end terrorism, make a policy of zero-tolerance and give a free hand to the security personnel, we delivered… We had said that Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya and now Ram Lalla will be consecrated on January 22, 2024. This is Narendra Modi’s government, which does what it says.”

On the existing criminal laws, he said, “These laws were enacted by a foreign ruler to continue its rule. These laws were enacted to govern its subjects. Now, the three new laws are being enacted based on three basic principles – personal liberty, human rights and equality – of our Constitution.”

“By ending all the symbols of slavery of the British Raj and the British era, complete Indian laws are now being enacted… The spirit of our Constitution is justice to all and these laws are being enacted based on the Indian concept of justice and punishment,” he said, seeking approval of the House for the Bills.

Shah said the government held wide-ranging consultation over the provisions of the new Bills. He said the Centre received 3,200 suggestions and he himself held 158 sittings to read the provisions of the Bills thoroughly, which were introduced on August 11. The Bills were referred to the Standing Committee that submitted its report on November 10.

Sharing details of the changes made in the criminal justice laws, he said the CrPC had 484 sections, now the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023 will have 531 sections; 177 sections have been changed; 9 new sections and 39 sub-sections have been included; 44 new explanations have been added; timelines have been added in 35 sections; and 14 sections have been repealed.

He said the IPC had 511 sections, and the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita will have 358 sections; 31 new offences have been included in the purview of the new law; the imprisonment period has been increased for 41 offences; penalty has been hiked in 82 offences; compulsory minimum punishment has been introduced in 25 offences; community service has been added as a penalty for 6 offences; and 19 sections have been repealed.

The Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023 has 170 sections as compared to 167 sections in the Indian Evidence Act; 24 sections have been changed; two new sections have been added; and six sections have been repealed, Shah said.

BNS, 2023, the Bill to replace the IPC makes mob lynching and hate crime a separate offence for the first time and prescribes a punishment that extends from life imprisonment to death. He said the provision of capital punishment has been made for such offence. He also criticised the Congress for not making strong provisions on mob lynching during its 70-year rule.

Shah said the government has introduced an official amendment to reduce punishment for doctors in culpable homicide cases. In an earlier version of the Bill, the BNS prescribed a five-year jail term for death caused by rash or negligent act. However, the new version creates an exception for registered medical practitioners. Under this provision, the punishment prescribed is a jail term which may extend up to 2 years.

He said now a victim can go to any police station and lodge a zero-FIR and it will have to be compulsorily transferred to the police station concerned within 24 hours.

Earlier, one could be declared a fugitive only in 19 crimes, now a provision has been made to declare a fugitive in 120 crimes, he said.

In all, 35 members participated in the debate on the three Bill.

Opposing the Bills, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi said, “These three criminal Bills are themselves felonious. Instead of preventing crimes, they are an attempt to give legal cover to the government’s crimes.”

“The reality is that there is no greater punishment for the poor, the Dalits and Muslims in this country than their very lives. If we wanted to reform the laws, then we should have removed those provisions which allow the government and the police to act as they will. The maximum number of undertrials in the country today are Muslims, Dalits and tribals,” he said.

Owaisi also spoke about extended police custody and stringent bail conditions in the Bills apart from the offence of sedition being reframed.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the SAD said the police were getting such powers from these laws that no police force should have.

“These are Bills which everybody should be allowed to discuss… but only the ruling party is here,” she said.

She also raised the issue of Balwant Singh Rajoana who is on the death row for the assassination of Beant Singh.

“Rajoana has been in jail for the past 28 years. For the past 12 years, his mercy petition has been pending. No decision has been taken. The court asks the government to take a decision and the government does not do so. Now the new law says besides his family no one can apply. What will happen to those who have no family,” she said.

Simranjit Singh Mann of SAD (Mann) said discussing the Bills when the Opposition was not present was an undemocratic practice.

Later, all three Bills were passed by a voice vote.