India News | Bharatiya Nyay Samhita Much Needed, but Falls Short of What It Could Have Achieved: Jurist
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Bharatiya Nyay Samhita (BNS) is a much-needed replacement of the colonial era Indian Penal Code but falls short of addressing modern concerns like marital rape, criminal defamation and the death penalty, a noted jurist asserted on Monday.
Patna, Jun 24 (PTI) The Bharatiya Nyay Samhita (BNS) is a much-needed replacement of the colonial era Indian Penal Code but falls short of addressing modern concerns like marital rape, criminal defamation and the death penalty, a noted jurist asserted on Monday.
Faizan Mustafa, a renowned legal scholar who is also Vice Chancellor of Patna's Chanakya Law University, made the observation at a workshop organized here for the three criminal laws which will come into force next month.
"The Indian Penal Code had a staggering number of 511 sections which have been drastically reduced to under 400 in BNS. It is a welcome change. In view of problems we encounter in the contemporary world, there are provisions with regard to mob lynching and sexual exploitation by making a false promise of marriage", said Mustafa.
He said, "Union Home Minister Amit Shah was kind enough to give me the chance to share my opinions about the new laws when the Bill was being drafted by the Standing Committee".
Mustafa said despite many positive changes, the new laws left a bit to be desired.
"It is now a well-established view in law that marriage does not give a man the right to force himself on his wife. But the issue of marital rape has not been squarely addressed," Mustafa claimed.
He also said that criminal defamation has been retained but it should have been scrapped.
Many countries treat defamation as a civil matter and India could have followed that, Mustafa said.
"But it is a fact that societies tend to have different levels of maturity. Most countries have abolished the death penalty. We are still not prepared for that. In fact, the number of sections in which maximum punishment is the death sentence has gone up in BNS," said the legal expert.
"Likewise, while many countries have done away with sedition laws, the BNS has dropped the usage of the term but the law, in effect, is (now) even more stringent with regard to acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India," said Mustafa.
He was also of the view that most eastern societies, which include the Islamic countries, China and India, laid stress on punishment of crime in justice..
"We owe it to the West that the focus is gradually shifting towards reformation. The West learnt through its own experience that it is the certainty of punishment, and not the intensity, that acts as a deterrent against crime," said Mustafa.
He cited the example of England where, in the Medieval times, even pick-pocketing was punishable with death and the accused was executed in public.
"One such public execution site was close to what is now called the Russell Square in London. It has been reported that once 21 people had their pockets picked while they were watching a person hanged for the same offence," said Mustafa.
The legal wizard, who spoke in presence of some top officials of the Bihar police, lauded the state government for showing excellent preparedness for the new laws, including BNS, which will come into force from July 1.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)