The dawn of a new era

The proposed legislations replacing the IPC, Evidence Act and CRPC, are a brilliant attempt to go forward; the colonial era laws have outlived themselves years back

Path breaking legislations to say the least, and long overdue. The colonial era laws which had outlived themselves decades back, needed to go. The proposed legislations replacing the IPC, Evidence Act and CRPC, which come into play almost in every litigation, now under freshly inspired Sanskrit-based titles read like a beautiful symphony and are intelligently and laboriously thoughtfully cast in plain simple language, with a view and clear intent, which even the common man will understand and comprehend. Certainly, there will be debates and tweaking of the proposed bills but finally what we can safely visualize are laws which are taking into account the current scenario and are extremely practical in their implementation. Justice will be rendered in much speedier fashion which is the ultimate objective under our jurisprudence. The provisions for ‘mob lynching’ offences, ‘zero FIR’, deemed sanction to prosecute civil servants and the authorities failure to respond within 120 days of the application, digitization of the complete process starting from registration of FIR, to maintenance of case diary and filing of chargesheet, etc; also the uncomplicated procedure of otherwise what is, a long drawn trial, videography while recording statements of victims of sexual crimes becoming mandatory, severe and harsh punishment of upto 20 years for all types of gang rape and the salutary provision for death penalty on conviction for the offence of rape of minor are fantastic proposals. Gruesome incidents are witnessed by all of us on a regular basis, which prompted out Parliamentarians to brainstorm and finally realise that justice delayed is justice denied.

We as a nation, have suffered long enough from delays in securing justice from the common man onwards, to victims of heinous criminal acts etc. and the timelines for framing of charges and completion of the trial coupled with mandatory videography during searches will reduce corruption in a major way and instill fear and accountability in the law enforcement agencies. With widespread publication through all forms of media, each and every Indian now, realizes the power in his/her hand and the mandate of the law. Manipulation of all sorts during evidence gathering will virtually end with the implementation of the timely procedures and thus clearly aid the courts to deliver fast and speedy judgments. Also, another important facet in the new legislation, is Chapter V of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Bill No. 121 of 2023). Chapter V deals with ‘offences against women and children’. Section 69 deals with the offence in respect of sexual intercourse under false pretext of marriage by ‘deceitful means’ which has been defined, as an inclusive definition and shall include the false promise of employment or promotion or marrying after suppressing one’s identity. Many a times women are cheated and induced into a bogus nightmarish marriage and thereafter repeatedly raped. The new law takes into account glaring realities which is the need of the hour. Also, Section 124A of IPC, dealing with the offence of ‘sedition’ has been done away with. Section 150 of the new proposed law differentiates criticism and peaceful protests from the heinous acts against the Indian state.

So in conclusion one can hope that the mantra of the magic word “jugaad” will not hinder and trample the new laws as there is no defence to that nor can any law completely claim to eradicate corrupt practices. Facts can be still distorted and AI tools will boost criminals ambitions, hence it’s critical that for the new provisions of sedition, chargesheet filing, etc. to succeed, the judiciary is to be safeguarded at all costs as it is the last bastion of hope in the justice delivery system. An example where a person may be falsely booked is the new provision for offences relating to spread of ‘fake news’. How does one plug a ‘false implication’ attempt? Or an entire set of persons in acting conspiracy decide to create a chain of false events to implicate an innocent person as though he is indulging in ‘subversive activities’? Therefore, watertight procedural rules will be required to ensure accountability as the acts’ multi-faceted nature could lead to administrative complexities during implementation, training personnel, setting up efficient systems and keeping in focus issues such as data privacy and security, social and regional disparities. Also, the citizen becoming overly dependent and lax, that “all is well approach” will not help and that image is never a good sign. Law helps the vigilant.

Suffice to say, a brilliant attempt to go forward and kudos to the fact of recognition of free speech in its true sense. So let’s raise a toast and greet the dawn of a new era.

Jai Hind.

Dr. Sujay Kantawala, is an advocate of the Bombay High Court

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