Do not rush through the three criminal Bills: Mamata writes to Union Home Minister Amit Shah

West Bengal CM Banerjee in a letter to the Union Home Minister said, “extreme caution” and “due-diligence” should precede any change in the existing statutes

The government should not rush through the three criminal Bills that were recently cleared by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs and are expected to be tabled in Parliament in the upcoming winter session of Parliament, West Bengal Chief Minister Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah.

In a two-page letter, Ms. Banerjee said, “extreme caution” and “due-diligence” should precede any change in the existing statutes. And in the fitness of things, an outgoing government, she said, should not take the step.

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At least ten Opposition MPs lodged a protest by filing dissent notes against the Parliamentary panel’s report on the three laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 2023.  

“I strongly believe that these are very significant legislations that form the bedrock of our penal-criminal jurisprudence. As such, the proposed overhauling of the existing criminal penal statutes and replacing them with new statutes, is bound to have far-reaching long-term implications on our polity. The suggested changes will also affect the public life of India in multiple ways,” Ms. Banerjee said. She advised Mr. Shah to hold wide-ranging consultations and discussions with all stakeholders before the Parliament legislates on such issues. 

Detailed views of all sections of stakeholders should have been taken to create a consensually accepted platform and a failure to do so will have very adverse implications on our polity, she added.  

“Moreover, the term of the current Lok Sabha is almost coming to an end. In all fitness of things, it would be fair and appropriate that the newly elected members of the ensuing Lok Sabha and the new Government may deliberate upon these extremely important legislations and take a considered view,” Ms. Banerjee wrote.