New Criminal Laws in India: Bring forth significant changes but also spark concerns 

Guwahati, July 1: As India rolled out its new criminal laws, the government claims to have taken extensive preparations, including masstraining initiatives and technological upgrades, to ensure smooth nationwide implementation. However, the introduction of these laws has sparked significant concerns among legal experts, civil rights advocates as well as opposition parties. 

Reportedly, legal experts have criticised the new laws as “old wine in a new bottle,” noting that while they introduce major changes, they also retain minor modifications.

Critics also argue that the laws increase police powers, making bail more difficult to obtain in criminal cases, and incorporating special offences such as terrorism and organised crime, already covered by special laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967, into ordinary statutes without accompanying safeguards against misuse.

Some of the key points of contention include:

♦ The maximum duration of police custody is expanded from 15 days to 60–90 days, raising concerns about potential police excesses and coerced confessions.

♦ Police officers are granted broad discretion to choose between prosecuting under the new laws or existing statutes like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which could lead to inconsistent application and questions of fairness.

♦ New offences related to "terrorism", "organized crime", and "acts endangering sovereignty" are vaguely worded, leaving room for arbitrary application and potential infringement on fundamental rights.

♦ The definition of “terrorism” now includes acts that "disturb public order" or "destabilize the country," increasing the risk of misuse and potential repercussions for dissent and protest.

Despite opposition parties' concerns about potential human rights violations and calls for wider consultations, the government passed the laws through parliament by December 21, 2023. The Lok Sabha passed the bill with several MPs absent due to suspension, and the Rajya Sabha passed it unanimously under similar circumstances.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties have strongly reacted to the new criminal laws.

Congress President Mallikarjun Khrage, in a strongly worded social media post, stated that the three laws of the criminal justice system that are being implemented today were forcibly passed by suspending 146 MPs. "INDIA will no longer allow this “Bulldozer Justice” to run on the Parliamentary system," he added. 

Taking to X, Congress leader P Chidambaram wrote, “The three criminal laws to replace the IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act come into force today. 90-99 per cent of the so-called new laws are a cut, copy and paste job. A task that could have been completed with a few amendments to the existing three laws has been turned into a wasteful exercise.”

“Yes, there are a few improvements in the new laws and we have welcomed them. They could have been introduced as Amendments,” he said.

The Congress leader said that several provisions are prima facie ‘unconstitutional’.

“MPs who were members of the Standing Committee have poured over the provisions and written detailed dissent notes to the three Bills. The government did not rebut or answer any of the criticisms in the dissent notes. There was no worthwhile debate in Parliament. Law scholars, Bar Associations, judges and lawyers have in numerous articles and seminars pointed out the grave deficiencies in the three new laws. No one in government has cared to answer the questions. It is another case of bulldozing three existing laws and replace them with three new Bills without adequate discussion and debate.” Chidambaram added.

He stated that further changes must be made to the three laws to bring them in conformity with the Constitution and the modern principles of criminal jurisprudence.

Similarly, Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose also targeted the government and claimed the new laws are highly regressive.