Indian parliament passes 3 bills on criminal law to 'free people from colonial mindset'

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) – The Indian parliament on Wednesday passed three bills repealing existing colonial-era criminal laws.

"New criminal law bills will free people from colonial mindset," Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said in the Lok Sabha, or lower house while speaking on the three bills, two of which replaced the British colonial era criminal laws.

The new bills have Hindi names, including the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second), and Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Sanhita, and were passed by vote in the absence of 97 opposition MPs who were suspended earlier this week for disrupting house proceedings.

Suspended Indian opposition members have also linked their suspension to three bills, claiming that the government wanted no opposition to the bills in the house.

At least 141 opposition lawmakers were suspended from the two houses of the Indian parliament as they were charged for disrupting proceedings of the ongoing session to demand discussion and a government’s statement on a security breach at the parliament last week.

After the bills were introduced in parliament in August this year, they invited criticism from many people, from lawyers to politicians, who called for more discussions. The main opposition Congress party had demanded more consultation on the law, including with experts and the general public.

Home Minister Amit Shah while highlighting the importance of new bills on Wednesday said among many other things new additions include, "crimes against women and children, matters affecting the human body, security of the country's borders, crimes related to the Army, Navy and Air Force, electoral crimes, tampering with coins, currency notes and government stamps etc. are kept first.”

Under the new law, the government will be empowered to hold “trials in absentia” for alleged criminals living outside the Indian borders. If found guilty, their properties will also be attached to by the government, the minister added.