The recent legal matrix that has emerged is that the Supreme Court has received a PIL to put India’s newly amended criminal laws on hold. The said petition has been filed by two residents of Delhi, causing concerns over the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023.
Writing about the timing of the three laws, the petitioners claim that the titles of the laws are deceptive and do not refer to the statutes or intentions behind their passing. They have also accused parliament of ‘irregularity’ in the passage of these bills in the December 2023 sitting of the parliament.
It is a petition that has accused sections of new laws of having certain defects. For instance, it has opposed the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023, which admits the provisions for 15 days of police remand to be taken in parts or whole within the initial 60/90 days of judicial remand. The petitioners have argued this violates the. UP’s decision of the apex court. Accessed 23 February 2015.
In addition, the petition has questioned the vaguer definitions of ‘petty organized crime’ under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the new laws’ provision for handcuffing for a galaxy of cases, including economic offenses.
In the same order, the petition has asked the court to suspend the operation and implementation of the three laws, waiting for the formation of an expert committee to evaluate the feasibility of the specific laws.
