Delhi Lawyers Protest New Criminal Laws
Advocate Jagdeep Vats Speaks Out
On Monday, Delhi lawyers protested against three new criminal laws that came into effect on July 1, 2024, by abstaining from work. Advocate Jagdeep Vats, Chairman of the Coordination Committee of the Bar Association of Delhi, stated, “Today all the district courts in the state are on strike in protest against the three new criminal laws. There is resentment among the lawyers and the public against the three criminal laws. We hope to get cooperation from the judiciary to make our judicial system better. We have received a proposal from the Ministry of Home to hold talks.”
Karan Tarkar, Member Executive of New Delhi Bar Association, added, “We called for abstaining from work. We hope that the government will think about it and introduce changes in the provisions of the three new criminal laws. When we came back to work after the holidays, we started reading the law and discussed the loopholes that were there.”
Earlier, the All India Bar Association (AIBA) wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the new criminal laws. Dr. Adish Aggarwala, chairman of the AIBA and outgoing President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), suggested increasing the strength of police personnel, judicial officers, public prosecutors, managers for court management, Forensic Science Laboratories (FSL), and evening courts for effective implementation.
The new criminal laws mandate that FIRs be recorded within three days of complaints submitted electronically, charges framed within sixty days from the first hearing, and trials conducted in absentia against proclaimed offenders after ninety days. Judgments must be pronounced within 45 days after a trial concludes and uploaded within seven days to ensure swift justice delivery.
