Criminal code bills passed, Oppn to mount SC challenge

The home minister said the bills are citizen-centric and in sync with technological advances

- Prawesh Lama

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the government’s vision was to have a criminal code that provided “justice” rather than “punishment” as the Lok Sabha passed the three crucial bills — Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, and Bharatiya Saksha (Second) Bill — that will replace a raft of British-era laws after a day-long discussion in the Lower House.

The discussion saw the participation from 16 MPs. Out of these, none were from the Opposition INDIA collective, which has boycotted proceedings after a record 97 Lok Sabha members have been suspended for the rest of the winter session. The three bills were passed by voice vote at around 4.45pm.

Later, the Opposition INDIA allies decided to challenge the three legislation in the Supreme Court, after discussing the bills during a meeting of their floor leaders at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence on Wednesday evening.