Winter Session Of Parliament: Government To Present 18 Bills, Including 3 To Overhaul Criminal Law

New Delhi: In a significant move, the Central government has announced that 18 Bills will be presented for consideration and passage in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament, scheduled from December 4 to 22. The list includes crucial criminal law legislation that seeks to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) of 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. The proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 2023 are set to replace the IPC, CrPC, and the Evidence Act respectively.

These Bills were first introduced in the Lower House of Parliament on August 11 and were subsequently referred to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs. The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, in consultation with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, published an intimation of this in Bulletin-Part II, dated August 21, 2023.

Union Minister Amit Shah, while introducing the bill in the Lok Sabha on August 7, stated that the three acts to be replaced were originally designed to fortify and safeguard British rule, with their primary objective being punishment rather than justice. “We are going to bring changes in both these fundamental aspects,” he declared. He further added that the essence of these three new laws would be to safeguard all rights conferred by the Constitution to Indian citizens. The aim would not be to punish, but to deliver justice, and in this process, punishment would be meted out where necessary to instill a sense of crime prevention.

The Committee’s Report was presented to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on November 10, 2023, and was then forwarded to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. According to a bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Wednesday, the government will introduce several other bills in Parliament, including The Boilers Bill, 2023, The Provisional Collection of Taxes Bill, 2023, The Central Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Amendment) Bill, 2023, among others.

Notably, the Bill to regulate the appointment, conditions of service, and term of office of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners is also part of the legislative agenda for the upcoming session, which will conclude on December 22. The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon session on August 10.

This Bill also outlines the procedure for the transaction of business by the Election Commission. It proposes that the Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President based on the recommendation of a panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister, with the Prime Minister chairing the panel.

If enacted, this Bill will override the Supreme Court’s March 2023 judgement, which stated that the appointment of Election Commissioners would be done by the President based on the advice of a panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India. However, the apex court had clarified that the procedure outlined by it would hold until a law is enacted by Parliament.

In the meantime, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, on behalf of the government, has called for an all-party meeting ahead of the session on December 2.