Congress tears into criminal law overhaul: ‘Animated by negative desire of leaving a Modi stamp’

“Rioting provisions clearly have a communal aim with a slanted mindset,” says Abhishek Singhvi; Ashwani Kumar hopes Bills will achieve goal of strengthening criminal justice system

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi spoke out against the changes in criminal law. (Express File Photo: Anil Sharma)

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The BJP-led Union government’s move to overhaul criminal laws in the country by replacing colonial-era laws has drawn criticism from the Congress, which said it was part of the larger gameplan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to leave his imprint on everything. Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday introduced three Bills in the Lok Sabha to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act.

“While there may be a few individual changes which may be desirable, this is certainly not an attempt to make tailored, specific changes. It is part of the larger gameplan to change things for the sake of leaving your new imprint, of turning to each segment of society and suggesting that everything in the past — social, legal, cultural, political — is bad and needs the new Modi stamp,” senior Congress leader and noted lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi told The Indian Express.

Such blanket, wholescale amendments, he said, were only “animated by this negative desire”. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, among other things, seeks to reinvent the provisions related to sedition in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“I must admire the Dutch courage of this government and its utter insensitivity. Thick-skinness also has its limits. The Supreme Court has repeatedly opined against sedition and here is a government acting to strengthen it.”

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The new piece of legislation does not use the word sedition, but describes the offence as “endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”.

Section 150 reads: “Whoever, purposely or knowingly, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or by electronic communication or by use of financial mean, or otherwise, excites or attempts to excite, secession or armed rebellion or subversive activities, or encourages feelings of separatist activities or endangers sovereignty or unity and integrity of India; or indulges in or commits any such act shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.”

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On changes in provisions related to rioting, Singhvi said, “The provisions proposed regarding rioting are clearly and deliberately intended to have a communal twist with a slanted mindset. We have seen such negative actions even without this law coming; now this law and its apparent legitimacy will make it worse.”

Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, on the other hand, hoped the three new Bills tabled would achieve their desired objective of strengthening the nation’s criminal justice system. “It is self-evident that changes in laws from time to time are part of a continuing process of legal evolution to make legal structures responsive to changes in the social and political consciousness of the nation. The changes were prompted by judgments of the Supreme Court and the Government’s appreciation of their need,” he said.

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While changes in laws on “sedition, mob lynching, and crimes against minors and women are welcome”, he said the “absence of a comprehensive law against custodial torture to address its several dimensions is not understandable”.

“Hopefully, such a law will be introduced soon in furtherance of the right to dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution,” Ashwani Kumar said.

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He said a major challenge for the government was to ensure that the new laws were purposefully and conscientiously implemented and not misused to oppress innocent persons and are enforced consistently with respect for legal due process. “The test of a civilised power is in the fairness of its use, just as the ultimate test of laws is in their just application,” said Kumar.

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