By Our Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, Nov 8 (IVC) The Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs on Nov 06 adopted three reports on the Bills that seek to replace the existing criminal laws . All ten opposition members would be submitting dissent notes.
DMK M P N R Elango has taken exception to provisions in Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The committee could not adopt the report in its last meeting on October 27, after several opposition leaders sought more time to read the three reports on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakhya Adhiniyam (BSA) that will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 respectively.
Congress MPs, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary and Digvijaya Sing, along with MP N R Elango have filed dissent notes ; the others are to follow soon.
Mr Elango, who was one of the first to submit his dissent note, has taken strong exception to the provision in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita which has increased the police remand tenure from the present 15 days to 60 days for offences punishable by 10 years or above and 40 days for offences punishable with less punishment. He said that these provisions should be invoked in exceptional cases, otherwise, the magistrates would be discouraged giving bail.
He also objected to the provision on organized crime in the BNS which he argued would clash with the existing laws in several States such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka . The BNS also has a provision to deal with terrorism , which Mr Elango according to sources, in his dissent note, argued would add unnecessary confusion with the existing Unlawful Activities (Prevention)Act.
The draft report also recommended that there should be parity in punishment for murder and mob lynching. The BNS lays down a minimum of seven years of punishment for cases of mob lynching, while the cases of murders are punishable by life imprisonment or death. To remove this disparity , the committee has suggested that the minimum punishment clause should be removed for mob lynching.
The report on BNS, while taking note of the Supreme Court judgment on Section 377 of IPC that decriminalized homosexuality , has suggested that the section should should be retained for the cases of “non-consensual carnal intercourse with adults, all acts of carnal intercourse with minors acts of bestiality , for which there is no provision in the BNS”.
The committee, while acknowledging the Supreme Court judgement striking down section 497 of IPC on adultery , said that the “institution of marriage is considered sacred in Indian society and there is a need to safeguard its sanctity. For the sake of protecting the institution of marriage , this section should be retained by making it a gender neutral”.
The report on BNSS recommends that hand-cuffs should not be on economic offenders.
