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Journalism of Courage
The last day of the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament saw Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabling a new bill to replace the Indian Penal Code and key amendments to the GST Bill respectively.
On Friday, Shah introduced the Bharatiya Sanhita Suraksha Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha to replace three “19th Century Laws”, namely the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act. Meanwhile, Sitharaman’s Integrated Goods and Service Tax (Amendment) Bill and Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill were passed in the Lower House.
Touting that the Bharatiya Sanhita Suraksha Bill aims to overhaul the criminal justice system, Shah said that the proposed Bill aims to give higher precedence to dealing with crimes against women and children and that the provision of sedition offences will be completely repealed in the new bill replacing IPC.
He also added that the Centre will introduce the provision of capital punishment in mob lynching cases.
“…Under this Bill, we have set the goal that the conviction ratio has to be taken above 90%. That is why, we have brought an important provision that the Sections which provide for 7 years or a greater jail term, under all those cases forensic team’s visit to the crime scene will be made compulsory…” Shah said.
Shah said that the bill will be sent to a Parliamentary Standing Committee. He added that it had been in the works for four years and that the suggestions of all the stakeholders have been taken into account while drafting it.
“We’ve gone through all suggestions. We will focus on citizens’ safety and bringing justice in a timely manner,” he said.
The contentious amendments to the Central and Integrated GST laws, which were passed in Lok Sabha just before it adjourned sine dine, approved the levy of a uniform 28 per cent tax on full face value for online gaming, casinos and horse racing.
Sitharaman introduced the bills in the House amid protests from the Opposition over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s suspension on Thursday.
Both the bills — Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and The Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 — were passed by the Lok Sabha by a voice vote, without a debate, paving the way for states to now pass the amendments to the state GST laws in their respective assemblies.
(With inputs from PTI)
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