Tamil Nadu Formulates Panel To Suggest Changes In New Criminal Laws (image:x.com/mkstalin)
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday formulated a one-man commission to recommend amendments to the three new criminal laws to meet the requirements of the state, including a change of name.
The committee will be led by retired High Court judge M Satyanarayanan. It will conduct discussions with bar associations and other collaborators, and will submit its report to the state government within a month.
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The decision to constitute a one-man committee was made by Chief Minister MK Stalin at a high-level meeting with the state’s Home and Law departments.
நாடெங்கும் பல்வேறு எதிர்ப்புகளுக்கும் போராட்டங்களுக்கும் காரணமாகியுள்ள #NewCriminalLaws-ஐ, மாநிலங்களின் கருத்துகளைக் கேட்காமலும் நாடாளுமன்றத்தில் விவாதங்கள் நடத்தாமலும் செயல்படுத்தியுள்ளனர். இதனைத் தி.மு.க.வும் தமிழ்நாடு அரசும் தொடர்ந்து எதிர்த்து வருகிறது.
இன்று நடைபெற்ற உயர்… pic.twitter.com/NeC2XXTuvG
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) July 8, 2024
The three criminal legislations, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) replacing the old Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Indian Evidence Act came into effect on July 1.
In an official release on June 17, CM Stalin strongly objected to the NDA government’s decision to implement three new criminal laws. Before its implementation, he had asked the centre to keep back the new laws until the opinions of all state governments and other stakeholders have been taken into consideration.
“The union government passed these three legislations in haste, without any discussion and by suspending 146 MPs in Parliament in December last year. Since these legislations have been named in Sanskrit, in violation of constitutional provisions, and enacted without hearing the views of the Members of Parliament, there have been protests across the country against various clauses of these laws,” the release stated.
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Last week, the Karnataka government also declared that that it would begin the process of amending the criminal laws after discussing with experts.
Since criminal laws are part of the Concurrent List of the Constitution, Article 246 (1) enables both State and Centre to formulate laws on subjects included in the list. But when a central law and a state law on the same topic are in conflict, as per Article 254 (1), the former shall exist and “the State law shall be void to the extent of repugnancy.” Besides, the state law on a subject in the Concurrent list requires the assent of the President.
Former Finance Minister and Rajya Sabha MP P. Chidambaram welcomed Tamil Nadu’s move and wrote on X: “We must enact criminal laws that are in consonance with modern principles of criminal jurisprudence.”
I welcome the decision of the Government of Tamil Nadu to appoint a Committee to suggest State amendments to the three criminal laws that came into force on 1 July 2024
Criminal Law is a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and the State Legislature is competent to…
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) July 9, 2024
