The
Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition which challenged the
enactment of three new laws that seek to overhaul India's penal codes.
A
vacation bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal allowed petitioner
advocate Vishal Tiwari to withdraw the plea.
The
Lok Sabha, on December 21 last year, passed three key legislations -- the
Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second)
Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill. President Droupadi Murmu gave
her assent to the bills on December 25.
These
new laws -- the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita
and the Bharatiya Sakshya Act -- will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the
Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.
At
the outset, the bench told Tiwari, "We are dismissing it (petition)".
The
bench said these laws have not come into force so far.
As
the court showed its disinclination to entertain the plea, Tiwari urged that he
be allowed to withdraw the petition.
"The
petition has been filed in a very casual and cavalier manner," the bench
observed, adding, "If you had argued more, we would have dismissed it with
cost but since you are not arguing, we are not imposing cost".
Seeking
a stay on the operation of the three new laws, the PIL filed by Tiwari had
claimed they were enacted without any parliamentary debate as most of the
opposition members were under suspension.
The
plea had sought directions from the court for the immediately constitution of
an expert committee that will assess the viability of the three new criminal
laws.
"The
new criminal laws are far more draconian and establish a police state in
reality and violate every provision of fundamental rights of the people of
India. If the British laws were considered colonial and draconian, then the
Indian laws stand now far more draconian as, in the British period, you could
keep a person in police custody for a maximum of 15 days. Extending 15 days to
90 days and more is a shocking provision enabling police torture," the
plea had claimed.
The
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita encompasses offences, such as acts of secession, armed
rebellion, subversive activities, separatist activities or endangering the
sovereignty or unity of the country, in a new avatar of the sedition law.
According
to the new laws, anyone purposely or knowingly, by words, either spoken or
written, or by signs, by visible representation, by electronic communication,
by use of financial means, or otherwise, excites or attempts to excite
secession or an armed rebellion or subversive activities, or encourages
feelings of separatist activities or endangers the sovereignty or unity and
integrity of India or indulges in or commits any such act shall be punished
with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment that may extend to seven years
and shall also be liable to fine.
According
to IPC section 124A, which deals with sedition, anyone involved in the crime
may be punished with life imprisonment or with a three-year jail term.
Also,
for the first time, the word "terrorism" has been defined in the
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. It was absent in the IPC.
Under
the new laws, the magistrate's power to impose fines has been increased as well
as the scope for declaring a proclaimed offender.