New Delhi: New criminal bills threaten civil liberties, people’s rights

Hyderabad deputy and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said the new penal law projects are a threat to civil liberties and people’s rights, or they will give sweeping powers to the police to take action against any person. Participating in the debate on the three proposed criminal laws in the Lok Sabha, Owaisi said that these laws are against the common people of the country and their rights will be reduced once they are converted into law. Union Home Minister Amit Shah last week presented three projects of reworked laws: the Indian Justice (Second) Code (BNS), the Indian Civil Security (Second) Code (BNSS) and the Indian Evidence (Second) Code (BSB). The Lok Sabha put them up for debate on Tuesday for consideration and approval. The proposed laws seek to replace the Indian Penal Code of 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1898 and the Test Act of India of 1872 respectively. Owaisi, president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), said various provisions have been included in the BNS which are “very dangerous”. “The provisions of the law project are a threat to freedom and civil rights”, he said, adding that they gave the police sweeping powers to act as “judge, jury and independent”. It was confirmed that in the proposed projects the crime of treason has been introduced in a different avatar and the punishment has also been increased from three years to seven years. Owaisi also demanded that the crime of rape should be gender neutral. He described the proposed laws as a threat to the Muslims, Dalits and tribals of the country and said that 30 percent of the prisoners in the entire country and 33 percent of the prisoners in Uttar Pradesh alone belong to the Muslim community. Participating in the debate, BJP member Nishikant Dubey congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for taking the initiative to amend the country’s criminal laws after 163 years and said that these laws will have an impact on the country. . 130 million inhabitants. “This law project will free the country from police control,” he said. Dubey said the Congress and its allies made every effort to stop the law projects from reaching Parliament. Moreover, the opposition is now trying to divide the country into North and South, apart from Hindi speakers and non-Hindi speakers. “Their opposition to the law projects is wrong,” he said. Dubey also criticized opposition parties’ move to abolish the death penalty and said the laws were designed to scare people so that they would not commit crimes. “The three projects of law have been presented keeping in mind the Indian character and the Indian character,” he said.