Centre To Withdraw Three Criminal Law Bills, Replace Them With New Drafts

The development comes after the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommended some changes to these bills.

The central government on Monday, 11 December, decided to withdraw the three new criminal law bills from the Lok Sabha, seeking to replace them with new draft bills.

(Photo: PTI)

The central government on Monday, 11 December, decided to withdraw the three new criminal law bills from the Lok Sabha, seeking to replace them with new draft bills, reported news agency PTI.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to introduce the new drafts of these bills in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, 12 December.

The three bills in question – The Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill, 2023, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Bill, 2023 – were introduced in the lower house of the parliament on 11 August 2023.

Subsequently, the bills were referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs.

The development comes after the committee recommended some changes to these bills.

In a note submitted to the Lok Sabha, Shah stated that, "The Committee held several rounds of discussions with the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, domain experts and various stakeholders and submitted its reports along with its recommendations on 10 November," reported The Hindu.

In view of the same, he further sought withdrawal of the old bills and replacing them with new drafts.

The three bills, if passed in the parliament, will replace the the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) and the Indian Evidence Act.