Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah replied to the discussion on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023 in the Rajya Sabha today. The house passed the bills after the discussion. The Lok Sabha had passed these bills on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.

Replying to the discussion, Shri Amit Shah said that with passing of these three bills by the Parliament, a new era in India's Criminal Justice System will begin, which will be completely Indian. He said that after 75 years of independence, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has started changing or abolishing all colonial laws in this country and establishing the soul of India. He said that three old laws were designed to protect the British rule after the revolution of 1857 and there was no system to protect Indian citizens, their honor, human rights and protection of the weaker section. Shri Shah said that in the old laws, instead of giving priority to action against homicide and abuse of women, priority was given to the safety of the British crown. He said that the purpose of three bills is to give justice, not punishment. He said that for the first time, through these three laws with the Indian soul, our criminal judicial system will be governed by India, for India and the system created by the Indian Parliament. He said that the concept of justice established in our Puranas is the most generous among all the judicial concepts of the world.

Union Home Minister said that after the implementation of these laws, right from the FIR to the court judgement, the entire process will be online and India will become a country with the highest usage of modern technology in its criminal justice system. He said that in these laws, provision has also been made to digitize the records of Zero FIR, e-FIR and all cases across the country by 2027. He said that Swaraj does not mean self -government, but to establish self-righteousness, own-language, own-culture and self-governance. He said that since 2014, Shri Narendra Modi has awakened the great soul of the country, which has caused the upliftment of India today. Shri Shah added that in a democracy, the balance of work is given great importance and it has deteriorated in our current criminal judicial system, but we have taken special care of this aspect in these new laws. He said that after the full implementation of these laws, the trend of tareekh-pe-tareekh (giving date after date) will be over and a judicial system will be established in the country which will give justice within three years.

Shri Amit Shah said that after the passage of these bills from the Parliament, our criminal judicial system will leave the 19th century and enter directly into the 21st century after covering a distance of 2 centuries. He said that with these laws, we will be able to familiarize the whole world with the basic concept of Indian justice and the people of this country will get positive results. He said that the world's most modern and scientific justice system will be available to 140 crore people of India. Home Minister added that the technology has been amalgamated with such foresightedness that the technology of today and the next 100 could be converted into rules. Shri Shah said that in all crimes with punishment of imprisonment of more than 7 years, the visit of forensic science laboratories has been made mandatory, which will increase the conviction ratio. He said that after passing these new laws, there will be only one justice system in the entire country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Dwarka to Assam. Home Minister said that to protect the rights of women, we have been successful in giving traditional honors a form of law. He said that after suffering the brunt of terrorism for 75 years and decades of independence, there was no definition of terrorism in the law of this country, but Prime Minister Modi ji has included the definition of terrorism by adopting a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism.

Home Minister said that sedition has now been changed into treason. He said that people like Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Veer Savarkar were in jail for many years on charges of sedition and the opposition also used it to jail many people during the Emergency. Home Minister said that now the Modi government has abolished the British concept of sedition, anyone can speak against the government, but if anyone does anything against the country, the provision of harshest punishment has been made in these laws. He added that for organized crime, we have worked to tighten it by adding a new interpretation. He said that the provision of community service has been made for small crime and crime committed for the first time. Shri Shah said that after the introduction of new laws, the poorest of the poor will get speedy justice. He said that these laws will deliver faster justice. With the use of technology, the process of justice has been carried forward by setting up a deadline for police, lawyers and courts. He said that there will be a Director of Prosecution in the district and will decide on the merits of appeal by staying neutral from the process. Shri Shah said that by abolishing the laws made by the British Parliament, Modi ji has increased the pride of Indian Parliament.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which replaces CrPC with 484 sections, will now have 531 sections, 177 sections have been replaced, 9 new sections have been added and 14 sections have been repealed. In the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which will replace the IPC, there will now be 358 sections in place of the earlier 511 sections, 20 new crimes have been added, compulsory minimum punishment in 23 crimes has been kept, and a penalty of community service has been kept in 6 crimes. 19 sections have been repealed. Similarly, the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, which will replace the Indian Evidence Act, will now have 170 sections in place of 167, 24 sections have been changed, 2 new sections have been added and 6 sections have been repealed.

Shri Amit Shah said that this is the Narendra Modi government, it does what it says. We had said that Articles 370 and 35A would be removed and we did it, adopted a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and extremism and will give free hand to security forces and we did it as well. He said that these policies have led to 63 percent reduction in violence and 73 per cent reduction in deaths in Jammu and Kashmir, Left Wing Extremism affected areas and Northeast. He added that we had promised that Ram Mandir will be built in Ayodhya and Ram Lala will be in the Ram temple on January 22, 2024. We had said that 33 percent reservation will be given to women in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies, we have unanimously honored the mother power of the country. We had said that we will increase the pace of getting justice, make the laws simple, Indian and strengthen the judicial and court management system and Modi ji has done this today.

Union Home Minister said that Modi ji has freed the country's criminal justice system from the chains of slavery, the soul, thought and body of the new laws are all Indian. He said that from 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs had started intensive discussions to bring changes in these three old laws. Shri Shah said that a total of 3200 suggestions were received regarding these laws and he himself held 158 meetings to discuss these three laws. He said that on August 11, 2023, these three new Bills were sent for the consideration of the Standing Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs and 72 percent of the non-political suggestions of the committee have been accepted. Shri Shah added that till now the work of computerizing 97% of the country's police stations through ICJS has been completed and 82 percent of police stations have also been digitized. He said that so far, data of 8 crore FIRs has been made online through ICJS, projects of e-court, e-prisons, e-prosecution and e-forensics have started. He added that through ICJS, Forensic Science University, Police Station, Home Department, Public Prosecutor Office, Jail and Court are going to be online under the same software. The work of integrating all types of databases is also being done, so that the noose on all types of crimes can be tightened. Home Minister added that this is the Narendra Modi government which works with planning and results. He said that a police officer is designated in every district and police station who will make a list of arrested people and inform their relatives. Shri Shah said that in cases of imprisonment below 3 years, the rules regarding the arrest of persons above 60 years of age have also been framed firmly. He said that we have enacted victim-centric laws, the purpose is to give justice to the victim, restore her/his self-esteem and dignity. Compulsory provision of video recording has been made in search and seizure and collecting evidence, which will greatly reduce the chances of framing someone.

Shri Amit Shah said that through these laws, the Narendra Modi government has removed the concept of sedition forever. He said that if someone does something against the unity, integrity and sovereignty of India, he will get a harsh punishment. He said that we have talked about purpose and intention in the definition of treason and if the objective is treason, then the accused should get rigorous punishment. Shri Shah said that many provisions have been made in these laws for the safety of women and children. He said that a provision of life imprisonment and death penalty has been made in the crime of rape of a woman under 18 years of age. He said that in gangrape cases, a provision has been made for imprisonment of 20 years or imprisonment till death. Home Minster added that for the first time after 75 years of independence, the Narendra Modi government has given terrorism a definition in the criminal justice system.  He said that if any death occurs in incidents like use of dynamite, explosive material, poisonous gas, or nuclear, then those responsible for it will be considered involved in terrorist acts. He said that this definition has no scope for misuse of this law, but those who do terrorist acts should get rigorous punishment. Shri Shah said that more than 70 thousand people have sacrificed their lives due to terrorism and now it has been decreased by 70 percent. He said that in the case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, there is a provision for lesser punishment if the accused goes to police to report the case and takes the victim to the hospital for medical treatment. Shri Shah said that for the hit and run cases, we have made a provision of 10 years of imprisonment.

Union Home Minister said that the lowest number of mob lynching cases after independence took place in the 9 and a half years of Narendra Modi government. He said that in order to ensure speedy justice, a deadline for police, lawyers and judges has been fixed through these laws. Home Minister said that now the police will have to register an FIR within 3 days of the complaint and in cases of punishment of 3 to 7 years, an FIR will have to be registered after preliminary investigation. The report of the investigation will have to be placed in 24 hours and the report of the search will have to be placed before the court in maximum 24 hours. Home Minister added that now we have made a provision to send the medical examination report of the rape victim directly to the police station and court within 7 days. Now the deadline for filing the charge sheet has also been fixed and kept 90 days and after that investigation can be done only 90 days further. He said that the magistrate will have to take cognizance of the case in 14 days and then the action will begin. Shri Shah said that the accused will have to file a discharge petition within 60 days. He said that there are many cases in which trail will be done even in the absence of the accused and punishment will be pronounce in 90 days and the judge will have to give a decision in 45 days of the end of the case. Under the trial in absentia, criminals will now be punished and their property will also be attached. Along with this, there will be 7 days between decision and punishment. A mercy petition can be filed within 30 days of dismissal of the appeal by the Supreme Court.

*****

RK/RR/PR