Senior Advocate Ms. Indira Jaising has urged the Union Minister of Law and Justice to delay the implementation of three new criminal laws: – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. The new laws will replace the existing Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
In her letter to the Union Minister, Mr. Arjun Ram Meghwal, Ms. Jaising requested to facilitate the engagement of relevant stakeholders to debate and discuss their concerns. Ms. Jaising termed the new criminal laws “the Damocles sword hanging on us” with reference to their implementation scheduled on July 1. She has said that the three laws may pose several challenges, like the pendency of present cases under the existing laws and how the new laws could be applied retrospectively.
The pending cases in the Supreme Court, (17,804 criminal and 65,264 civil ) will continue to be tried under the existing laws for at least 20 years, the learned advocate said. Ms. Jaising said the situation will create “two parallel criminal justice systems” for the foreseeable future, In every single pending case, the question will arise of which law will apply in a particular case, she said.
Jaising also highlighted the lack of audits on the impact of implementing the new criminal laws on the existing work pressure of the judiciary and the backlog of cases.
Ms. Indira Jaising stressed the need to delay the implementation of the new criminal laws and made an earnest request to deliberate and discuss different aspects of the new laws proposed.
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