The need for consultations and debates before the implementation of the three new criminal laws was emphasised in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday.
MLAs of different parties that are in alliance with the ruling DMK said the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, which would replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, were being implemented in haste without any discussion in Parliament or consultations with the States.
“The Chief Minister should move a resolution in the Assembly seeking withdrawal of the new laws as they have certain draconian provisions. We need to debate the various provisions before they come into force,” VCK MLA M. Sinthanai Selvan said.
M.H. Jawahirullah of the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi urged Mr. Stalin to prevail upon the Centre to review the new laws as they were being implemented without discussions with the States. The new laws, if implemented from July 1, will lead to a lot of confusion, he said. In his reply, Mr. Stalin said he had already written to the Union Home Minister expressing concern. However, since they were coming into effect, the Tamil Nadu police were being trained in the new provisions. The MLAs were speaking during the demand for grants for the Police, Fire and Rescue Services, Prohibition and Excise Departments.
Professor Jawahirullah appealed to Mr. Stalin to direct the Police Department to make changes on the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) portal in respect of the anti-Sterlite campaign and other cases. Though the State had withdrawn the cases, the system was still showing them as live. This would affect their chances of getting employment and passports.
He said the families of two persons who died of alleged torture — Vignesh at the Secretariat Colony and an inmate of a juvenile home in Chengalpattu — should be duly compensated under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Life convicts, including many Muslims, who were languishing in prisons for years, should be released, he said.