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'If mind is of Italy...': Amit Shah's veiled jab at Congress, Gandhi family
The three criminal laws were passed by a voice vote in Lok Sabha.
New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday took a veiled jibe at Congress stalwart Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha while responding to a debate on three new criminal law bills. Reacting to the Congress MPs' objection, he said they had the 'mind of Italy', an oblique reference to Gandhi's Italian roots.
The three criminal laws were passed by a voice vote in Lok Sabha.
He said those who have minds of Italy, won't see merit in the bills.
"Those who say we do not understand, I said if you keep your mind open, keep it Indian, you will understand, if you keep that of Italy, you will not understand. It is a question of mind, not of language. If the mind belongs to India, you understand immediately, if not, you will never understand," he added.
The bills were placed on the standing committee of the Parliament. The Congress members had given dissenting notes.
The bills were -- Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023. They replaced the colonial-time laws originally framed in the British Raj.
"The state's first responsibility is to deliver justice. The makers of the Constitution have distributed work between the three pillars of democracy- the judiciary, executive and legislative, to provide justice," Shah said.
"For the first time, these three pillars will bring about not a punishment-centric but a justice-centric criminal justice system. The law will be formed here, the executive will implement it and the judiciary will carry forward the rest of the implementation. These three organs will together and establish a justice system," he said.
Under the bills, mob-lynching has been included as an offence in India. These three bills replaced the Indian Penal Code of 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) of 1973 and Indian Evidence Act, of 1872. These bills will replace the IPC, CrPc and Indian Evidence Act.
The Lok Sabha has suspended over 97 Opposition MPs for unruly behaviour over their demand for a statement from Shah on the Lok Sabha security breach last week.
With inputs from ANI
