Congress MP Manish Tewari Calls for Discussion on New Criminal Laws in Lok Sabha

New Delhi [India], July 1: Congress MP Manish Tewari has given an adjournment motion in Lok Sabha seeking a discussion on the three new criminal laws that have come into force from today. Tewari urged the House to suspend Zero Hour and relevant rules to discuss the implementation of these laws.

The Congress MP pointed out that the laws were passed when 146 MPs were suspended from both houses of Parliament while they were demanding accountability for a security breach in Lok Sabha on December 13, 2023. He stated, “These three new Acts are going to upend the entire criminal jurisprudence of the country which has now been established and has stabilized over more than a century.”

Tewari also mentioned that lawyers, jurists, and constitutional experts have expressed serious concerns about the implementation of these laws, which were passed without the collective wisdom of Parliament. He urged that the implementation be referred to a joint parliamentary committee for thorough reexamination.

“A joint parliamentary committee should reexamine them threadbare, only then a final view on these criminal acts should be taken,” he said. Tewari added, “As today is the last day on which Parliament would be meeting before these three new criminal acts would be coming into force. Therefore, this adjournment motion is being moved given the extreme exigency of the situation.”

The three new criminal laws, namely Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita, replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860; the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which came into effect from Monday. The new laws received Parliament’s nod on December 21, 2023, and President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent on December 25, 2023.