MHA introducing more severe and arbitrary measures in name of withdrawing sedition law provisions: Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee claims Union Home Ministry is introducing harsher, more arbitrary measures in Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita to replace Indian Penal Code, CrPC & Evidence Act. She urges jurists & activists to study drafts for democratic contributions to criminal justice system.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday claimed that in the name of withdrawing provisions under the sedition law, the Union Home Ministry is introducing more severe and arbitrary measures in the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

She claimed that a serious attempt is being made by the ministry to quietly introduce very harsh and draconian anti-citizen provisions in its efforts to substitute the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act.

"Earlier there was Sedition Law; now, in the name of withdrawing those provisions, they are introducing more severe and arbitrary measures in the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which can affect citizens more gravely," the Chief Minister wrote on ‘X’.

Stating that she has been reading the drafts prepared by the Union home ministry to substitute the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, Ms. Banerjee said she is "stunned to find that there is a serious attempt to quietly introduce very harsh and draconian anti-citizen provisions in these efforts."

While maintaining that the current Acts should be decolonised not only in form but also in spirit, she urged the "jurists and public activists of the country to study these drafts seriously for democratic contributions in the realm of the criminal justice system."

Ms. Banerjee wrote in the social media handle that her colleagues in Parliament will raise the issues at the standing committee.

"Laws need to be improved in light of experiences, but colonial authoritarianism should not be allowed to have backdoor entry at Delhi," the Trinamool Congress supremo said.