Books on new criminal laws flood markets

There are a bunch of new bestsellers in the bookshops of Chandigarh, all on the same topic, and all non-fiction.

- Prawesh Lama

The books are explainers on the three new criminal laws -- there are offerings by lawyers, legal experts, even a retired judge.

The first fortnight of January has been a good business month for Ajay Sharma. The owner of Ajay Law Agency, a wholesale law books store has already sold over 4000 books on the three new criminal laws. He is now waiting for the laws to be notified and has asked different publishers to send at least 40,000 copies, which will be sent to distributors in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. In his 30 years of business, Sharma says he has never seen such a demand for law books.

“This is our bestseller. These books are selling because the amended laws affect the lives of everyone. We are getting orders from police, courts and law firms. Our distributors have also sold books in Delhi market,” he said.

Sharma is not alone. This is the story of most law book sellers and publishers in Chandigarh. Bookshops in the sector 17 Chandigarh market, one of the largest in the city, have been receiving visitors and telephonic orders asking for new books on the three laws. Sharma said there are over 40 different publishers who have published the first lot of the books on criminal laws.