Loopholes in Three New Criminal Bills

Topic- Loopholes in Three New Criminal Bills 

Author- Nandan Rathi, Student at Hidayatullah National Law University. 

INTRODUCTION-

In the Monsoon session of the parliament, home minister Amit Shah tabled the bill to replace three existing criminal laws with a new proposed bill. The impact that these changes will not just be huge for legal practitioners and students but will also impact common people and how the justice system works may change drastically. Let’s look into them in detail. 

Since the time of British Rule, the major laws governing the criminal offenses were- 

1.      Indian Penal Code, 1860

2.      Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and

3.      Code of Criminal Procedure, introduced in 1973. 

Since then, these laws have been enforced and from time to time they were amended accordingly. It is well acknowledged that society progresses at a much rapid pace, while the law takes much time to develop. Same thing is with the criminal laws of the country. Over the years, the type of crime being committed has changed drastically, which our law could not catch up with. Hence, the government decided to make the changes once for all.   

WHAT ARE THE NEW BILLS –

The three new laws are being proposed, which the government will table in both houses of parliament and once it gets passed it will be sent to the president for ratification and made into law.  

• “Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita” will replace IPC,

• “Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita” instead of CrPC &

• “Bharatiya Sakshya Bill” for Evidence Act. 

IPC deals with What Constitute a Crime & What will be its punishment? 

CrPC deals with Arrest, bail, investigation and procedure to be followed. 

Evidence Act deals with Admissibility of evidence, burden of proof mainly. 

Timeline of the proposed Bill-

In March 2020, the Central Government formulated a panel to suggest reforms in criminal laws.

February 2022, public suggestions were floated 

Then the committee submitted its report to the government. Then, law minister in Rajya Sabha, said that government has made a comprehensive review. 

Finally, August 2023 Bills are tabled. 

What are the problems under the current Acts-

British Setup four law commission to make laws on different subjects headed by Thomas Macaulay. The contribution by them is very significant as most of the major laws in the country were made by this commission. 

So, what’s the problem? Even today there is mention of ‘British Crown’ at least 400 times in these laws! Highlighting colonial mindset. 

Jury system which was abolished long ago still continues to exist. 

The crimes involving technology, latest devices are not adequately governed, the laws are not equal for all and the entire structure is somewhat complicated. 

COMPARISON BETWEEN OLD VS NEW LAWS-

Indian Penal Code has 511 sections, while the new bill only has 356 sections. Out of these, 175 sections are modified, 8 provisions are added and 22 sections are removed. If you glance through new bill, you will notice that many sections have been merged together, hence so much reduction. 

In CrPC, 484 sections were there, which were increased to 533 sections. 9 new provisions are added, 10 sections amended. 

In the Evidence Act, not much changes are there. Instead of 167 sections, new bill has 170 sections in which five sections have been removed and one added. 

 

POSITIVES-

• The new laws have become gender neutral from the perspective of the perpetrator.  

• More status to fast-track court, justice will be aimed to be granted within three years. 

• Filing of chargesheet has been extended to 180 days (90+90)

• New age crimes like- Snatching, mob lynching, fake promise to marriage, ATM theft, Ponzi Scheme, Question paper leak etc. are covered. Also, Terrorism, Separatism, armed rebellion against the government is also covered. Controversial law on Sedition is removed. 

• Interesting addition has been punishment of community service in petty offenses. 

• Focus given on Digitization, Forensic and Science, stringent timelines for the investigation process.

DRAWBACKS-

• Why new name for Acts? Government says old acts focus on punishment, while the current one focuses on giving justice!

• Why new legislation over amendments? Amendment does not change the principle; especially as colonial references and the structure of laws were not confined. New law addresses the same. 

• Bills have been kept in mind from future perspectives, currently we don’t have such infrastructure to have smooth implementation in reference to digitization especially in district courts, which have pathetic conditions. 

• Law Students, practitioners will face so much difficulty in understanding and navigating old and new laws, this will create so much unnecessary headache. 

• Most sections have just been reshuffled. The sections have been blatantly copied as it is, even the mistakes are copied! Poor drafting in certain cases as well. 

• Sedition law removed, BUT a new section is added which attracts greater penalty and will again be misused. Concept of “Snatching” was there under section 356, but is shown as if it is added for the first time. 

• Missed the golden opportunity to make laws gender neutral in actual sense, so even in new bills a man can’t be stalked, sexually harassed & no remedy if a man gets raped by another man. 

CONCLUSION-

While no doubt the criminal laws needed changes to meet current challenges and the change is welcomed, the government still has time to make efforts to reduce the drawbacks under proposed bills. 

(For Reference to changes in new vs old law) Evidence-

CrPC-

Changes in IPC- Additions- 

Repealed-