Three momentous bills to replace the
Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act were
passed by Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Home Minister Amit Shah replied to the
debate on the three bills and said the legislations are in consonance with the
spirit of the Constitution.
The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita
2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya
(Second) Bill 2023 seek to replace the IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act
respectively.
The debate on the key bills did not see
participation from most Opposition parties, as 97 of their members have been
suspended from the House for “misconduct”.
In his reply, Shah said the bills are a
big step towards speedy justice. Referring to a popular dialogue from a Hindi movie,
he said ‘tareekh pe tareekh’ has been a bane for criminal justice system.
“Now the accused will get seven days to
file a plea for acquittal. The judge has to hold the hearing in those seven
days and in a maximum time of 120 days, the case would come to trial. There was
no time limit for plea bargaining earlier.
Now, if one accepts their crime within
30 days of the crime then the punishment would be less.There was no provision
to present documents during trials. We have made it compulsory to produce all
documents within 30 days. No delays will be made in that,” he said.
“For the poor, the biggest challenge to
get justice is the financial challenge. For years, ‘tareekh pe tareekh’ keep
going. Police hold the judicial system responsible. The government holds the
police and judiciary responsible. The police and judiciary hold the government responsible
for the delay. Now, we have made many things clear in the new laws,” he added.
The amended bills to replace Indian
Penal Code of 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) of 1973 and Indian
Evidence Act, of 1872 were introduced in Lok Sabha by the Home Minister last
week.
ANI
