Shillong, July 1: Three new criminal laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam — came into effect across the country on Monday.

These laws will replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.

The new criminal laws will bring in a modern justice system, incorporating provisions such as Zero FIR, online registration of police complaints, summonses through electronic modes such as SMS and mandatory videography of crime scenes for all heinous crimes.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized that the recent changes in criminal laws were implemented to ensure “speedy justice and justice for all”. These new provisions address emerging crimes such as gang rapes, mob killings, false promises of marriage, and more. The goal is to enhance the criminal justice system and protect the interests of victims while efficiently investigating and prosecuting offenses. Proper implementation of these laws will require training and forensic teams, whose visits have been made mandatory for offences carrying a sentence of seven years or more, he said.

To facilitate the implementation of these laws, training and forensic teams will play a crucial role. The National Forensic Science University (NFSU) will be instrumental in meeting the increased demand for forensic experts across the country. The NFSU, which has campuses in nine states, will expand to sixteen states to support the effective enforcement of the new criminal laws, informed Shah.

However, the Opposition parties, including the Congress, have expressed concerns about the hasty implementation of these laws. They believe that more consultation was necessary before enforcing them. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee  has even urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defer the implementation of these laws, allowing Parliament to review them afresh.

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram expressed his concerns in a recent tweet in his official X account (formerly twitter) calling the new laws a “cut, copy and paste job.” Stating that 90-99 percent of the content in these laws is derived from the existing ones, suggesting that a few amendments to the current laws could have sufficed. “A task that could have been completed with a few amendments to the existing three laws has been turned into a wasteful exercise,” Chidambaram tweeted.

Acknowledging some improvements in the new laws, Chidambaram noted that these could have been introduced as amendments rather than completely new legislation. “Yes, there are a few improvements in the new laws and we have welcomed them. They could have been introduced as Amendments,” he stated.

Members of the Standing Committee had scrutinized the provisions and submitted detailed dissent notes, but according to Chidambaram, the government did not address these criticisms. “There was no worthwhile debate in Parliament..this is another case of bulldozing three existing laws and replacing them with three new Bills without adequate discussion and debate,” Chidambaram added.

“These laws signify a watershed moment for our society because no law affects the day-to-day conduct of our society like the criminal law,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has said.

Read: Meghalaya: Housing Dept to verify quality of roofing sheets in 7 districts from July 2

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