Congress' Mass MP Suspension Reminder As New Criminal Laws Come Into Force

As three new criminal laws came into force today, main Opposition Congress said these laws were "forcibly" passed by suspending 146 MPs from Parliament proceedings. The party also said 90 per cent of these laws are a "cut, copy and paste job".

Taking to X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP are "pretending to value the Constitution after an electoral and moral setback in the election". "But the truth is that the new criminal laws that come into force today were passed forcibly by suspending 146 MPs. INDIA will not allow this 'bulldozer law' on Parliamentary proceedings anymore," he added.

The Congress chief was referring to the Winter Session of Parliament that saw the suspension of nearly two-third of the Opposition MPs in both Houses. The mass suspensions had come amid the Opposition's protest against the Parliament security breach. The new criminal laws cleared the Parliament virtually in the absence of the Opposition.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said 90-99 per cent of the "so-called new laws" are a cut, copy and paste job. "A task that could have been completed with a few amendments to the existing three laws has been turned into a wasteful exercise," he said.

Acknowledging that there are a few improvements, he said these changes could have been introduced as amendments.

"On the other hand, there are several retrograde provisions. Some changes are prima facie unconstitutional. MPs who were members of the Standing Committee have poured over the provisions and written detailed dissent notes to the three Bills. The government did not rebut or answer any of the criticisms in the dissent notes. There was no worthwhile debate in Parliament," he said.

"Law scholars, Bar Associations, judges and lawyers have in numerous articles and seminars pointed out the grave deficiencies in the three new laws. No one in government has cared to answer the questions," the Congress leader added.

"It is another case of bulldozing three existing laws and replace them with three new Bills without adequate discussion and debate. The initial impact will be to throw the administration of criminal justice into disarray. In the medium term, numerous challenges to the laws will be instituted in various Courts. In the long term, further changes must be made to the three laws to bring them in conformity with the Constitution and the modern principles of criminal jurisprudence," Mr Chidambaram said.

Earlier, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien described the new laws as "draconian" and "unconstitutional". "Some of us from INDIA fought all out on the Parliament Committee," he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who led the law revision exercise, has said these laws "are made by Indians, for Indians and by an Indian Parliament and marks the end of colonial criminal justice laws". He has also said that these laws were not just about changing the nomenclature but bringing about an overhaul. "Soul, body and spirit of the new laws is Indian," he had said.

Mr Shah said that while the colonial-era laws focus on penalty, these laws would prioritise justice.