Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi attacked the three new criminal law reform bills, passed by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. "What has been done (passing of the bills in Parliament) was not required at all and is retrograde," he said.
On Thursday, the three bills, that repeal and replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act, were passed in the Rajya Sabha by voice vote in the absence of most opposition MPs. The Lok Sabha had approved the bills on Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) bills will become laws after the assent of the President.
"There are innumerable number of petty offences which are not compoundable, for instance, impersonating a public servant and some petty organised crimes. That is a reform that I would have welcomed. You will be surprised how many offences are serious and the punishment is minor and vice-versa. Align those things," Singhvi said while speaking to India Today TV.
He further cited examples and said, "For bribery for elections, the punishment is one year. And because you have an agenda in love jihad, the punishment extends to 10 years, riots provocation is six months. Do these alignments."
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday termed the approval of Parliament to the three criminal bills "historic".
"Today is a historic day for the country, because today India has got its new criminal justice laws. Congratulations to all Indians on this proud moment. The three bills passed in Parliament today will replace the laws enacted by the British and will realise the decades-old dream of an indigenous justice system," he said on X (formerly Twitter).
Shah said the new justice system will be empowered by state-of-the-art technologies to deliver transparent and swift justice to all.
Meanwhile, Singhvi added, "What a law does is what matters, not rhetoric about colonial laws. A colonial law may be good, and a modern law may be bad, and if the reverse is true, then the former must be amended and substituted by a good law, not because it is colonial, but because you are bringing something good."
"This is a classic case of cosmeticism at its worst. Khoda pahar chuhiya bhi nahi nikli," the Congress MP stated.
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