Govt decides to withdraw three criminal law Bills

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Dec 12, 2023: The Centre has decided to withdraw the three new criminal law bills from Lok Sabha to bring in new draft laws, reflecting some of the changes suggested by the Parliamentary panel, including replacing “mental illness” as a defence of the accused with “unsound mind” in the Bhartiya Nyay Samhita (BNS) 2023.

 

The BNS 2023 is meant to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which provides protection from prosecution to a person of unsound mind. The BNS changes this to a person with mental illness. The Parliamentary panel, headed by BJP MP Brij Lal, was of the opinion that the government should bring back the term “unsound mind” since “mental illness” is “too wide in its import” and could even include mood swings and voluntary intoxication in its ambit.

“The committee has accordingly recommended that the word ‘mental illness’ in this Sanhita may be changed to ‘unsound mind’ wherever it occurs, as the present one can create problems during the trial stage, as an accused person can simply show that he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the time of the commission of a crime and cannot be prosecuted even if he has committed the crime without intoxication,” the panel’s report states.

According to sources, the government has accepted the suggestion. The sources said that the government has rejected the proposal to retain the offence of adultery in BNS 2023 and to criminalise non-consensual sex between men, women, and/or transgender individuals by reintroducing section 377 of the IPC once again.

The BNS has omitted Section 497 of the IPC since the Supreme Court, in a ruling in 2018, had decriminalised adultery.

However, the committee has expressed concerns there is a need to retain the provision to safeguard the sanctity of the institution of marriage, while it can be tweaked to address the gender discrimination aspect.

The government has disagreed, sources said. The reworked bills may face opposition from the INDIA bloc in Parliament. The opposition parties have already decided to coordinate their floor strategy in Parliament on the three bills, as well as on the Chief Election Commissioner and Other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Bill.

They have decided to demand that the three Bills be referred to a joint Select Committee. The Bills have already been scrutinised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, and the government is unlikely to accept the opposition demand.

On August 11, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had introduced three Bills in Lok Sabha which were referred to a standing committee the same day.

From a new provision on mob lynching, punishable by seven years imprisonment or life imprisonment or death penalty; to enabling speedy justice through video trials, e-filing of FIRs; expanding the definition of sedition; bringing corruption, terrorism, and organized crime under the penal laws; introducing community service and solitary confinement as new forms of punishment; holding trials in the absence of an accused; among others — the new Bills provide for substantive changes in criminal jurisprudence.

Courtesy: Indian Express