The Need For Better Criminal Laws Again

The new criminal codes have expanded police powers. Rather than getting rid of the colonial legacy, they have perpetuated it. The quicker these laws are shelved, the better it is for the nation

- KAPIL SIBAL

What the government needs is a change in its mindset. The enactment of the three new criminal laws made effective from July 1, 2024 suggests that this government's mindset is far more damaging than that of our colonial masters.

I would have thought after almost 75 years of the making of our Republic, especially in the context of Supreme Court's iconic judgements on the importance of our freedoms, the government would have rationalised our criminal laws in tune with contemporary liberal thoughts. Instead, the new criminal laws have expanded police powers and rather than getting rid of the colonial legacy, perpetuated it. Prior to independence, the Code of Criminal Procedure allowed the police to arrest a person based on suspicion and keep him in custody for 15 days from the date of arrest subject, of course, to the orders of the magistrate. This was a unique anti-democratic provision that the colonial masters used to imprison, threaten, extract confessions and strike terror in the minds of people. In no other country in the democratic world is there a criminal law with comparable provision. If this government really wanted a change and unburden itself from the legacy of such provisions, it would have deleted the very concept of police custody of 15 days after arrest.