Former CBI chief, experts give presentation on three criminal justice bills to Standing Committee

New Delhi: Praveen Sinha, former chief of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday gave a detailed presentation on the three criminal justice bills with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, sources said.

The source said that in the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on these bills, former CBI Director presented a comparative study of the old laws and changes in the new bills.

Besides Sinha, Joint Secretary of Legal Affairs Department Padmini Singh and BPR&D officer Anupama Nilekar Chandra also presented their views.

The source said that during the meeting the experts gave presentations on the three bills — the criminal justice laws through the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Bill and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill.

He said that the committee members asked the experts questions to understand some of the issues.

BJP MP Brijlal is the chairman of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home, while Congress MPs P Chidambaram, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rakesh Sinha, Neeraj Shekhar, Satyapal Singh etc. were present in the committee meeting held on Monday.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee will also again meet on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Vikarm Singh, former Director General of Police and Keshav Kumar, former Director General of Police & Director Anti-Corruption Bureau Gujarat will participate in the meeting in the first half, while Professor Naveen Chaudhary, National Forensic Sciences, University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat will join the meeting in the second half.

On Wednesday, the details of the domain experts will be intimated in due course.

Last month, the standing committee, chaired by Rajya Sabha MP Brijlal, had held its first set of meetings to examine the three bills.

The meetings, held from August 24 to 26, saw home secretary A K Bhalla making a detailed presentation to the MPs on the provisions of the three bills. Many opposition MPs, particularly from the DMK, objected to Hindi nomenclatures of the bills and questioned the short 15-day window granted to the committee members to study the bills and submit their views.

Congress MP Digvijaya Singh accused the government of “bulldozing” through the consultation process.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien wondered why the committee’s first meeting was held days before it was due to be reconstituted.

Home Minister Amit Shah on August 11 in Lok Sabha introduced three bills saying these Bills will completely overhaul the British-era Indian criminal laws, the Indian Penal Code (1860), Code of Criminal Procedure (1898), and the Indian Evidence Act (1872).

Shah introduced the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023 which seeks to replace the IPC, the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita Bill which seeks to replace the CrPC and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023 which seeks to replace the Indian Evidence Act, in Lok Sabha on the last day of the monsoon session.

Referring to the three bills for consideration of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on home affairs, Shah said that the earlier laws strengthened British rule, while the proposed laws will protect the rights of the citizens and give speedy justice to the people.

–IANS