‘Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill ‘harsh’, ‘draconian’, ‘anti-citizen’ provisions’

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the Centre of introducing “severe and arbitrary measures” in the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill in the name of withdrawing provisions under the sedition law.

She made it clear that the issues will be raised at the Standing Committee in the Parliament when these will be deliberated upon. Banerjee further alleged that a serious attempt is being made by the ministry to quietly introduce harsh and draconian anti-citizen provisions in its efforts to substitute the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act.

“Have been reading the drafts prepared by the Union Home Ministry to substitute the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act. Stunned to find that there is a serious attempt to quietly introduce very harsh and draconian anti-citizen provisions in these efforts. Earlier there was Sedition Law; now, in the name of withdrawing those provisions, they are introducing more severe and arbitrary measures in the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which can affect citizens more gravely,” the Chief Minister wrote on her ‘X’ handle.

She maintained that the current Acts should be decolonised not only in form but also in spirit, and urged the “jurists and public activists of the country to study these drafts seriously for democratic contributions in the realm of the criminal justice system.”

“The current Acts should be decolonized not only in form but also in spirit. Urge the jurists and public activists of the country to study these drafts seriously for democratic contributions in the realm of the criminal justice system,” she wrote on X.

Banerjee, who is also the chairperson of Trinamool Congress, further wrote. “Laws need to be improved in light of experiences, but colonial authoritarianism should not be allowed to have a backdoor entry in Delhi.”