Chief Minister MK Stalin has requested the committee to submit its report within a month after consulting bar associations and other stakeholders in the State.
Tamil Nadu: Today (9th July): The Tamil Nadu Government has established a one-man committee, chaired by retired Madras High Court judge Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, to recommend State-level amendments to newly implemented criminal laws.
Chief Minister MK Stalin has requested the committee to submit its report within a month after consulting bar associations and other stakeholders in the State.
The three new criminal laws – the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam – came into effect on July 1.
The State Government criticized the laws for being passed by Parliament without proper discussion and for being named in Sanskrit, which they claim violates the Constitution. Protests are occurring nationwide against these laws.
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The Government press release mentioned that the laws were passed in December 2023 without considering the views of suspended Members of Parliament. Stalin had written to the Union Home Minister last month expressing concerns and requesting a postponement of the laws’ implementation until States’ views were considered, citing fundamental flaws.
“Protests and agitations are taking place against these three Acts all over the country,”
the release added.
“The Union Government has passed these new laws without discussion, in haste during December 2023, after suspending 146 Members of Parliament, without hearing the views of the Members of Parliament who reflect the people’s views,”
the release stated.
Stalin had written a detailed letter to the Union Home Minister last month, expressing his concerns and objections to certain sections of the new criminal laws.
“In the letter, the Union Government has been requested to postpone the implementation of the new laws and revisit them after hearing the views of States, citing certain fundamental flaws in the new laws,”
the press release highlighted.
Similarly, the Karnataka Government suggested introducing State-level amendments to the new criminal laws. Karnataka’s Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil urged the Central government to delay implementing the new laws until their recommendations were included.
