Criminal law amendment bills in consonance with spirit of Constitution: Shah

New Delhi, Dec 20: Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that the criminal law amendment bills are in consonance with the spirit of the Constitution and have been brought keeping in mind the well-being of the people of the country.

Replying to the debate in Lok Sabha on the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023, Amit Shah said that the new legislations will replace British-era laws.

"Under the leadership of Modiji, I have brought bills that lay emphasis on Indianness, the Indian Constitution and the well-being of the people. The laws are being changed in the spirit of Constitution," he said.

Amit Shah said the bills will encourage the use of technology in giving justice to people. He said "mob-lynching" had been included as an offence in the bills.

Amit Shah said the British-era laws were aimed at protecting foreign rule and the new bills are people-centric.

Lok Sabha had on Tuesday taken up discussion on three bills to replace the Indian Penal Code of 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) of 1973 and Indian Evidence Act, of 1872.

Amit Shah introduced the three amended criminal law bills in Lok Sabha last week that will replace the IPC, CrPc and Indian Evidence Act.

The Home Minister withdrew the three bills, which were introduced in the Lok Sabha in the monsoon session of parliament.

He said that the bills had been withdrawn and three new bills introduced, as a few changes were to be made. He said the bills had been examined by the Standing Committee and instead of coming up with official amendments, it was decided to bring the bills again.

The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill 2023 aim to replace the IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act respectively.

The earlier bills were introduced in the lower House of Parliament on August 11 and were referred to the Standing Committee.

Replying to the debate, Amit Shah said that bills had gone through wide consultations.