New Delhi: Three bills, replacing India’s colonial-era criminal laws, were passed in the Lok Sabha Wednesday in absence of the Opposition, a majority of whom have been suspended for protests over the Parliament security breach.
These bills include the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, which will replace the Indian Penal Code of 1860; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, replacing the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973; and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Sanhita, which seeks to replace the Indian Evidence Act of 1872.
Presenting the bills, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said they focussed on “Indianness, the Indian Constitution and the well-being of the people”. He said the British-era laws were aimed at protecting foreign rulers, while the new bills were people centric.
Shah also said the bills would encourage the use of technology in the justice process.
The three bills were first introduced in the Lok Sabha in the Monsoon Session, but were withdrawn to make further changes. Shah told the lower house Wednesday that the bills had been inspected by a standing committee, and it was decided to introduce them afresh rather than make official amendments.