TMC moves resolution seeking consensus building on Bills to replace criminal-penal laws

Kolkata: The ruling Trinamool Congress on Tuesday moved a resolution in the West Bengal Assembly seeking consensus building on three bills introduced before the Parliament by the BJP-led NDA government to replace criminal-penal laws.

Moving the resolution, West Bengal minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said that from a study of the bills, it appears that many provisions in these are much more draconian and anti-people than the original provisions in the old codes and acts which are meant to be supplanted.

The BJP-led NDA government in August introduced in Parliament the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill to replace the existing Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.

Chattopadhyay claimed that the three new Bills surreptitiously want to entrench police raj in India by conferring more power in the hands of enforcement authorities than were even contemplated during the colonial era.

He said that since the present Lok Sabha is almost nearing its end of term, it would be fair and appropriate that the new government and the newly elected members deliberate on these important legislations.

The Lok Sabha elections are due in 2024.

Participating in a discussion on the resolution, senior minister Chandrima Bhattacharya claimed that Hindi nomenclatures have been used for the new Bills, which she said is an attempt to impose a particular language on the people of the country.

Claiming that the new bills are largely copied from the old laws, she said that it is old wine in a new bottle.

Minister Firhad Hakim said that the Bills, if made into laws in their existing form, will turn the country into a police state.

Supporting the resolution, he claimed that the new provisions will give enormous powers to law enforcement agencies.

BJP MLA Arup Kumar Das, opposing the resolution, said that the new Bills have been introduced keeping in mind the present social requirements and the nature of crime.

He said that the purpose of the new Bills is to provide justice and not to punish, which he claimed was just the opposite in the existing provisions.

The discussions on the resolution will continue on Wednesday before being taken up for passing, Speaker Biman Banerjee said.