India’s ruling Hindu nationalists have proposed a legislation to remove archaic references to the British monarchy and other 'signs of slavery' to protect the constitutional rights of the Indian people.
Home Minister Amit Shah said sweeping amendments would dismantle the draconian laws used by the British when India was ruled by London.
According to Shah, "These laws were made to strengthen the colonial rule, to protect colonial rulers, and the intention was to punish and not give justice ... and we are going to change this and the spirit of these new laws will be to protect the constitutional rights of our citizens."
The ruling BJP party has moved to junk 313 provisions of its three law books to ensure people get justice within three years in India’s overworked courts. A vote is expected later this year.
“These laws will be imbibed with the Indian soul,” Shah told parliament’s elected lower house.
India’s federal and state penitentiaries held more than half a million prisoners by the end of 2021 with a majority of them still facing trials for crimes they may or may not have committed, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
Experts say cheap legal aid – not speedy bail – was the need of the hour in India, which has almost 148 million people living below an official poverty line and cannot afford lawyers.
For K. Chandru, a former Madras High Court judge, “Most problems that undertrials are facing today are borne out of poverty, lack of proper legal help, and insensitivity within the judiciary. Making a new bail act without addressing these problems won’t do much good."
Sedition Vs Treason
Shah also “completely” repealed the 163-year old sedition law which the British used to punish Indian freedom champions seeking independence from colonial rule in the 19th and 20th centuries.
After India's independence in 1947, the law was used by successive local regimes to crush dissent and the numbers of the victims grew during the BJP rule which started in 2014.
There were only 30 cases of sedition in 2015 in India.
India's Crime Records Bureau has reported that the numbers rose exponentially to 236 between 2018 and 2020.
In May 2022, the Supreme Court put the sedition law on ice and stipulated the government must first conduct a full review of colonial relics in India’s rickety legal system. It also ordered federal and state governments not to register new cases under sedition.
Court experts seemed unsure the proposed new version of the sedition law will come following a vote in parliament.
“It is my perception that the sedition law is being misused but ultimately the courts will have to decide on each case,” Delhi Bar Council chairman K.K. Manan told RFI.
VIDEO | "I would like to advise judges to be careful. These bills will push the country into darkness," says Rajya Sabha MP @KapilSibal on the three bills through which the government aims to replace IPC, CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act. pic.twitter.com/TaQHGyAZCF
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 13, 2023
Lynching and rape
The new version of the now-defunct sedition law prescribes harsh punishment against those endangering sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India and carried the death sentence for joining murderous mobs intent on lynching and 20 years of jail term for gang rape.
The number of grisly lynchings has risen significantly since the BJP came to power and victims were largely Muslim, killed by Hindu mobs amid rumours of cow smuggling for commercial slaughter. Cows are revered by Hindus.
However, speaking on Indian television, Manan asserted that stern measures to tackle rape and lynching were required: “I can say courts are not taking seriously even the rape cases and so we welcome Shah’s steps.”
The draft bills suggest punishment for sexual exploitation on the pretext of marriage or employment and include the use of a fake identity to seek sex as a crime.
They also prescribe community service for petty crimes rather than custodial sentences and propose timelines to be imposed for trials and criminal investigations, making police responsible for procedural errors.
