Anti-citizen provisions in Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita bill: Mamata Banerjee

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam were tabled in the LS by Union minister Amit Shah

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Wednesday that the Union government is trying to introduce “draconian anti-citizens provisions” in the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which aims to alter the current criminal justice system in India.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. (HT file)

“(I) Have been reading the drafts prepared by the Union home ministry to substitute the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act. Stunned to find that there is a serious attempt to quietly introduce very harsh and draconian anti-citizen provisions in these efforts,” Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson, wrote on her social media page.

The TMC is part of the INDIA coalition group that opposition parties have formed to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“Earlier there was Sedition Law; now, in the name of withdrawing those provisions, they are introducing more severe and arbitrary measures in the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which can affect citizens more gravely. The current Acts should be decolonized not only in form but also in spirit. Urge the jurists and public activists of the country to study these drafts seriously for democratic contributions in the realm of the criminal justice system,” Banerjee wrote.

“My colleagues in Parliament will raise these issues at the standing committee when these will be deliberated. Laws need to be improved in light of experiences but colonial authoritarianism should not be allowed to have backdoor entry at Delhi,” she added.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam were introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11 by Shah to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code, 1860, Criminal Procedure Act, 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively.

Chief minister Banerjee made her statement on social media around 4 pm on Wednesday, hours after Rujira Banerjee, wife of her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, arrived at the Salt Lake office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in response to summons sent to her for questioning in the bribe-for-job scam in the state education department.

Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “The chief minister in unwell and has been advised to rest at home. We all know that she can’t keep quiet for too long but statement like this from her at this hour is not expected. We wish her a speedy recovery.”

Banerjee was advised rest by doctors in mid-September in view of some old leg injuries. She is working from home since then.