SEARCHING FOR INDIANNESS IN THE NEW CRIMINAL LAWS

LAST Thursday, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three new criminal bills in the Rajya Sabha.

- CP SURENDRAN

The bills are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya bill. The House passed them by a voice vote. It is doubtful if most MPs knew what they raised their hands for.

The bills are meant to replace the existing Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Evidence Act-legacies of the British Raj. Introducing the bills, Amit Shah said in his characteristic combative style the new laws in "soul, bodyand thought" were Bharatiya". But is that enough? Perhaps we have arrived at that strange point in history where crime and its punishment can be branded slightly superior if they are made in India? The lay public, like the MPs they elected, remains largely ignorant of what the Indianisation of the laws meansdespite the noise of information exploding all around us.

The Congress-led opposition has no presence in parliament following the recent suspension of 146 MPs. But, even if they were all present, throwing light on an issue has not always been their forte.

As an aside, I must mention here that this is the time for all Congress MPs, if they were imaginative, to resign as a gesture of general protest, milk it for what it is, and run to their constituencies for 2024 election work. But they are sitting around outside parliament doing mimicry.

Amit Shah explained that the new laws were different from the old. For example, detention in police custody from the current 15-day limit is now up to 90 days. Does that sound good? It doesn't to me.