India’s legal system to welcome New Criminal Law from Today; Bar Council Requests Govt. to Delay Implementation

Declaring the three new criminal legislation to be in “utter disregard of Constitutional principles,” the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) asked the Indian government to postpone their implementation on Saturday.

The BCD stated that before the amendments to the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, and Indian Evidence Act are adopted, they should be “comprehensively discussed” in a letter dated June 29 to the Home Minister.

With the intention of displacing India’s “colonial laws,” the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam will come into effect on Monday.

The letter raised concerns about the extension of the longest possible police detention duration. It read, ““… enlargement of the period for police detention from 15 to 60/90 days u/s 187(3) of New Code, is atrocious and oppressive to say the least.”

Then the BCD also alleged that the new laws would curb the powers and authority of the Delhi govt. by keeping a control in the appointment of public prosecutors. Basically, the council said that the prosecutors would be kept “under the thumb” of the central government.

The letter also highlighted Indian police’s “colonial mindset” and their record of insensitivity to human rights violations. Furthermore, it was said that when police had to hold and arrest civilians, they did so based only on their whims and fantasies.

“… these tendencies have deep roots in the present police structure and have remained unchanged,” the letter further stated.

The letter stated that giving the police excessive authority could spark the rise of authoritarianism and threaten the “very foundation of democracy.”

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