SC dismisses plea challenging new criminal laws

Supreme Court dismisses petition challenging new criminal laws, petitioner narrowly avoids costs for filing in casual manner.

The Supreme court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the three criminal laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Act.

A Vacation Bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Justice Pankaj Mithal allowed petitioner-advocate Vishal Tiwari to withdraw, saying he narrowly escaped imposition of costs for filing the petition.

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“Your petition was filed in a casual, cavalier manner,” Justice Mithal told Mr. Tiwari.

“You have decided to withdraw. If you had argued more, we would have imposed costs on you... The petition is dismissed as withdrawn,” Justice Trivedi said.

Justice Trivedi noted the new Acts have not come into force so far.

The petition claimed the new laws, meant to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Evidence Act, suffered from “defects and discrepancies”.