"They Are Not Even In Force": Supreme Court Dismisses PIL Challenging Three New Criminal Laws

On Monday, a Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) which challenged the enactment of three new criminal laws set to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act that will come into force on July 1.

Apart from CJI Chandrachud, the bench included Justice JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Dismissing the petition filed by Chennai resident T Sivagnanasambandan, the Court said, “What is your locus to challenge the three new criminal laws? They are not even in force. Dismissed,” as stated in a Bar and Bench report.

The laws in question, namely the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (to replace IPC), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (to replace CrPC), and Bharatiya Sakshya Act (to replace the Indian Evidence Act), were first introduced in Lok Sabha on August 11, last year.

The laws were passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 21, shortly after the being passed by the Lok Sabha on December 20.

On February 24, the Union Home Ministry issued a gazette notification which announced the new laws were slated to come into effect on July 1, this year.

According to the Bar and Bench report, a sub-section (2) of Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita to ‘causing death of a person by rash and negligent driving of a vehicle’ has been put on hold.

Notably, the provision triggered protests in various parts of the country. The provision has increased the maximum prison sentence to ten years for involved parties in such offences, who flee the crime scene instead of reporting the crime to the police or Magistrate.

The new laws seek to redefine the judicial system by removing colonial-era laws, clearly defining terrorism, abolishing sedition as a crime and introducing a new section called “offences against the state” and other changes.