The Congress on Saturday said the implementation of the three new criminal laws should be deferred and added that they were passed “without” proper debate and discussion in Parliament.

The demand of the Congress came a day after West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chairperson Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to defer the implementation of the three criminal laws- the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.

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The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 which will replace the India Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 respectively will come into effect on 1st July.

Congress General Secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh in a post on X wrote, “On December 25, 2023, the President of India had given her assent to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023,the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. The three far-reaching Bills had been bulldozed through Parliament without proper debate and discussion, and at a time when 146 MPs had been suspended from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.”

In a veiled attack on the ruling BJP, Ramesh said, “Earlier the Bills had been ‘bulldozed’ through the Standing Committee on Home Affairs without detailed interactions with stakeholders across the country and completely ignoring the written and very detailed dissent notes of a number of MPs belonging to different political parties, including the Indian National Congress, who were members of the Standing Committee.”

“The three new laws are to come into effect from July 1 2024. The Indian National Congress is of the firm opinion that this date should be deferred so as to enable a thorough review and re-examination by the reconstituted Standing Committee on Home Affairs which should have more extensive and meaningful consultations with various legal experts and organisations who have serious concerns on the three laws as they stand – thereafter by the 18th Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as well,” he said.