Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged Union Home minister Amit Shah to arrive at a consensus on new criminal-penal laws among stakeholders, rather than rushing to pass them in their current form.
Banerjee in her letter also expressed her apprehension that overhauling the existing criminal-penal laws without consultation with all sections of stakeholders will have far-reaching implications on polity.
“I do hope that keeping the sensitivity of the subject in mind, you will kindly attempt to arrive at a consensus-building amongst all stakeholders on the proposed bills, rather than rushing to pass them in their present form, which has potential implications of serious nature in future,” Banerjee wrote in her letter.
The Centre has brought three Bills seeking to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 with Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, respectively.
“I strongly believe that these are very significant legislations that form the bedrock of our penal-criminal jurisprudence. As such, the proposed overhauling of the existing criminal-penal statutes and replacing them with new statutes is bound to have far-reaching long-term implications on our polity,” Banerjee wrote in her letter.
Stating that the proposed changes will also affect the public life in India in multiple ways, she wrote: “Therefore in my view, extreme caution and due diligence should precede any change in the existing Statutes. This can only be achieved through wide-ranging consultations and discussions with all stakeholders before the Parliament legislators on such issues.”
She further stated that before embarking on any such exercise that permanently changes the criminal-penal landscape of the country, detailed views of all sections of stakeholders such as jurists, public activists, human rights workers, general public etc. is taken into consideration in order to create a consensually accepted platform.
“Moreover the term of the current Lok Sabha is almost coming to an end. In all fitness of things, it would be fair and appropriate that the newly elected members of the ensuing Lok Sabha and the new Government, may deliberate upon these extremely important legislations and take a considered view,” the letter mentioned.
She maintained that the Bills have been examined in detail by the Bengal government and relevant comments of the state have been duly sent to the Rajya Sabha secretariat.