New criminal laws will provide justice rather than punishment: Prez

NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said the three new criminal laws, which are slated to come into force from July 1, will provide justice rather than punishment, which was the mindset during the British regime.

Addressing the first joint sitting of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha following general elections, she said the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 will speed up the judicial process. These laws, enacted last year, are set to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.

“The Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita will come into force in the country from the 1st of July. During the British regime, there was the mindset to punish the subjects. Unfortunately, the same penal system of the colonial era continued for many decades after Independence,” she said.

The President said the idea of changing criminal laws was much talked about for many decades, but it is this government which has shown the courage to do it. “Now justice will get priority over punishment, which also conforms to the spirit of our Constitution,” she said.

When the country is becoming free of the colonial mindset in different aspects, this is a big step in that direction, she said. “It is also a real tribute to our freedom fighters.”

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said in Parliament last year that the new laws will give priority to providing justice in place of the outgoing British laws that gave primacy to penal action. Shah said the laws were not just about changing the nomenclature but would bring about a complete overhaul of the prevailing laws. He said the “soul, body and spirit” of the new laws is Indian.

The President said that people of India have given a clear and stable mandate to the Modi government for a third time.

She also congratulated the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the high voter turnout recorded in the Union Territory in the recent Lok Sabha elections and lauded the Election Commission for holding the world’s biggest democratic exercise.

Regarding the recent paper leaks case, President Murmu said: “The recent irregularities and paper leaks are being dealt with strongly, the government’s focus is on improving the exam process. The government is committed to conducting a probe and giving stringent punishment to those involved in paper leaks.’’

The President’s address also made a reference to Emergency, adding fire to BJP’s offensive against Congress. The Emergency imposed in 1975 was the darkest chapter of a direct attack on the Constitution, President Murmu said in her address. The Constitution, she said, has stood up to every challenge and every test in the past decades. “But the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces as the traditions of the republic lie at the core of India,’’ she said, amid cheers from the treasury benches and protests by the Opposition.

The President’s address also touched upon green energy, banking system, robust economy, investment in infrastructure, digital infrastructure and poverty alleviation programmes of the government. “Today, India is contributing to 15 per cent of the global economy,’’ she said, adding that India has become the fastest growing major economy in the world. The government is giving equal priority to all three arms – Manufacturing, Services and Agriculture.

President Murmu noted that India has become the world’s 3rd largest aviation market in the world. The domestic aviation market used to have only 209 sectors in 2014, but today that has increased to 605 sectors.

Meanwhile, Opposition leaders dismissed the President’s address as a “script given by the government” that was “full of lies” and also castigated the government over the repeated mention of the 1975 Emergency.

They said there is an “undeclared emergency” in the country and the Constitution is being attacked under the Modi government.

Speaking to reporters after the President’s address, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav punched holes in the government’s claim of India being the fifth-largest economy in the world.

“The story that is being told about India becoming the fifth-largest economy... has it made our farmers prosperous? If we are the fifth-largest economy, then why are so many youths unemployed? Why is there a scheme like Agniveer? Why can’t price rise be controlled?” he said.

On the government’s claims about investment, the SP chief said, “We would have witnessed more growth if there was investment. The growth of some individuals cannot enable national growth. It can improve our numbers but what is there in it for farmers, the poor and those who have been most exploited.”

Asked about the mention of Emergency by Murmu, he said, “What did the BJP do for the people who were in jail during the Emergency? The SP gave them respect and pensions.”

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said the President read out a “script given by the government” and that the BJP has not realised yet that it does not have a majority on its own.

“The government’s problem is that they are not yet able to understand that they have come to 240 from 303. They prepared the speech based on the majority of 303. That is why she said there is a clear majority government when the government is actually in minority,” she said. Maybe they took portions from last year’s speech, she said.

Congress leader Tariq Anwar said there was nothing new in the President’s speech. “They just made a few changes to old speeches. There was nothing new in the President’s address to Parliament today,” he said. “Several elections have been held since the Emergency in which the BJP was defeated. They have nothing new to say,” Anwar said.