Nagpur :- Despite the Indian Constitution coming into force after independence, the criminal justice system was governed by two centuries old laws of the British era. Legal experts and the intellectual class of the country were considering them as a symbol of colonial slavery and the loopholes of these laws have also been continuously exposed. The Modi government at the Center has now decided to abolish the laws of the British era. On the last day of the Monsoon session, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced bills to amend three 163-year-old fundamental laws in the Lok Sabha. The biggest change will be regarding the sedition law, which will be brought in the form of a new law. Indian Penal Code made in 1860 will now be replaced by Indian Judicial Code 2023, CrPC made in 1898 by Indian Civil Protection Code and Indian Evidence Code made in 1872 by Indian Evidence Code Bill. At present, all these three bills have now been sent to the parliamentary committee for review.
Sedition law has been the most discussed in the direction of abolishing old laws. Due to the amount of misuse of this law, the demand to abolish it was being made for a long time. There is no doubt that this law has mostly been used against political opponents. From 2010 to 2022 till now 13000 people have been arrested under this law. When the matter reached the Supreme Court, it stayed its use until the provisions of the sedition law were reconsidered. After this decision, the government considered it. Famous personalities of the country, journalists, cartoonists, environmentalists and some student leaders were also victims of this law. Now the word treason will be used instead of treason. Now, under Section 150, if any act against the nation is done by spoken or written or by sign or picture or electronic means, then punishment from seven years to life imprisonment will be possible. Threatening the unity and sovereignty of the country would be a crime. Currently, under Section 124A of the IPC, sedition is punishable with imprisonment of three years to life. It remains to be seen how the apprehension of misuse of new laws is eliminated. It is not good for democracy to keep innocent people in jail without appeal, argument or lawyer. In the past too, laws like POTA and UAPA have been misused. These laws are the foundation of the prosecution process for crimes in India. Which act is a crime and what should be the punishment for it is decided under the Indian Penal Code. The method of arrest, investigation and trial is written in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Indian Evidence Act lays down how the facts of a case are to be proved, how statements are to be recorded and on whom is the burden of proof. The Home Minister says that these laws are a legacy of colonialism and will be adapted to today’s situation.
The good thing is that punishments have been tightened for many crimes. For example, in the case of gang rape, the punishment has been increased from 10 years to 20 years. Provision for death penalty has been made for mob lynching and rape of a minor. Strict action will also be taken against those who have sex by changing the name. For the first time, community service is being included as a punishment. For minor offences, the punishment can be imprisonment of 24 hours or a fine of Rs 1000 or community service. There is such a law in America and Britain as well. Time limit is also being fixed for the hearing of the cases. Electronic information has now been included in the Evidence Act. Along with this, witnesses, victims and accused will now be able to appear in all courts electronically. With the changes, from filing of charge sheet till cross-examination will be possible online only. In the new bill, the timeline for the use of forensics and trial of the case has also been fixed. For example, after the completion of arguments in a case in the Sessions Court, judgment has to be given within thirty days. This deadline can be extended up to 60 days. The parliamentary committee will consider these bills and the opposition included in the committee will give its opinion on it. It is possible that opposition will emerge on the drafts of the bill. That’s why it is necessary that all the work should be done in a transparent manner. Some people are calling the proposed laws a new cover on the old file. It has to be kept in mind that the guilty are punished but the innocent are not punished.
