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High Court judge lauds new laws, says will pave way for robust prosecution
The new laws are a significant milestone in the administration of justice in India, a revivification of the dynamism that is foundational to laws and dispensation of justice.
The Punjab and Haryana high court observed that new laws adopted by the country would prove to make the justice delivery system more efficient.
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 came into force on July 1. The new laws have come under criticism from various quarters and opposition had been demanding debate on the same.
The bench of justice Sumeet Goel said that the new laws are a significant milestone in the administration of justice in India, a revivification of the dynamism that is foundational to laws and dispensation of justice. The observations were made while dealing with a plea on maintainability of a petition under CrPC, if FIR was registered prior to these laws coming into force.
“The new legislations draw upon the Indian jurisprudence, which infuses a renewed confidence in the Justice system. The Indian laws have now been unburdened of the colonial and imperial remnants, which were causing a slow and sure attrition upon the confidence of the Indian justice system and impeding actualisation of its full potential,” the bench recorded.
The bench said that it was natural for those fully-versed with the prior laws to feel precarious, anxious and in some cases even entirely ambivalent due to these vicissitudes.
“However, in keeping with the spirit of the times of renewal, the new legislated laws ought to be leveraged for all the potential positive changes and illuminating effects that these can bring forth. Instead of giving way to cognitive dissonance and tendency to fortify against changes; the spirit of the time is placing a veritable engagement with these new legislations,” it recorded.
It noted that when a crime is committed it is not just against an individual but is transgression against the entire society. “The new laws will pave the way for a robust prosecution, striking balance between the State (society at large, victim as well as the accused. It will give more teeth to deterrence, justice as also the process of justice,” it further commented.
