Union Home Minister Amit Shah batted for the need to replace the IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act stating that any law becomes “out of date” after 50 years while citing the change in the scale of crime.
The Home Minister said that the method of dealing with the crime has to be changed with changing times.
"There has been no change in the IPC, CrPC or the Evidence Act since 1860. Any law becomes ‘out of date’ after 50 years. The scale of crime has changed, and so has the method of committing them but there has been no change in the method of dealing with them," Shah said.
Addressing the 49th All India Police Science Congress, he said this has had a crippling effect on the country's criminal justice system.
New legislations to replace old codes
Mentioning the three new legislations - the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (to replace IPC), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (to replace CrPC) and Bharatiya Sakshya (to replace the Evidence Act) - under consideration of a parliamentary panel, the Home Minister said that they will replace the three old codes once they are passed in the Parliament.
The law will expedite the disposal of cases as they will not get delayed, he added.
The Minister said that various reforms have been conceived for ‘Amrit Kaal’ - from the Home Ministry to the last police station - and have to be implemented.
The All India Police Science Congress covers six subjects, including policing in the 5G era, narcotics, challenges of social media, community policing, internal security, coordination between police and the Central Armed Police Forces, Shah said.
The scope of the subjects taken up completely cover the country's internal security, law and order, and border security, the Union home minister said.
What are the three Bills?
Shah had introduced the three Bill seeking to replace the old codes during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament on August 11. Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar referred the three proposed laws seeking to replace IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs for scrutiny and asked it to submit its report within three months.
Once the Bills are passed, they will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.
During the introduction of these Bills, the Home Minister said that these would transform India's criminal justice system and emphasised that the changes are being done for the speedy provision of justice and creation of a legal system which caters to contemporary needs and aspirations of the people.
(With PTI inputs)
