Chennai:

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday claimed that the Centre bypassed the Law Commission in enacting the three new criminal laws that came into effect from July 1.

The Law Commission, comprising of retired judges, legal experts, professors, and permanent legal staff, would normally hold consultations with bar council members, and advocate associations and prepare a draft to be presented in the Parliament, he said.

But the Law Commission was bypassed and five or six “part-timers” were appointed for a panel, he said on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, replacing the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act.

“The laws were not referred to the Law Commission nor was it consulted. This is wrong,” Mr Chidambaram said while speaking at a protest organised here by the DMK advocate wing against the new laws.

“World over, the death penalty has been abolished. But, here solitary confinement was included as a punishment, which is an unusual and cruel punishment as per the Constitution,” he said.

Such a punishment was not prevailing anywhere in the world, the former Union Minister added.

“Similarly, life sentence and life sentence to the remainder of life have been included. What is the difference?” he asked.

Further, Mr Chidambram said that he has been insisting upon a debate on the new laws for several months but the government has not agreed it was not prepared for it.

He reiterated that 90-99 per cent of the new laws were cut, copy and paste work. The government could have instead brought a few amendments.

“I did not say there should be no reforms. … they should have brought an amendment. They changed only the section numbers. Advocates, judges and police should now read again,” the Congress leader said.

For instance, even a child or a newly recruited police constable would know that section 302 referred to murder but now this number has been changed, adding to the confusion, he claimed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

 The Law Commission may submit its report on simultaneous polls to the government next week in which it could recommend adding a new chapter to the Constitution on ‘one nation, one election’ and holding the gigantic democratic exercise for Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies across the country by mid-2029.

According to sources, the Commission, under Justice (retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi, would recommend an amendment to the Constitution to add the “new chapter or part” on simultaneous elections.

The panel would also recommend synchronising the terms of legislative assemblies in “three phases” in the next five years so that the first simultaneous polls could be held in May-June 2029 when elections for the 19th Lok Sabha are due, they said.

The new chapter in the Constitution would include issues related to “simultaneous election”, “sustainability of simultaneous elections” and “common electoral roll” for Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, panchayats and municipalities so that the three-tier simultaneous polls could be held together “in one go”, the sources explained.

The new chapter being recommended will have power of non-extant” to override other provisions in the Constitution dealing with terms of assemblies.

The five-year period in which the terms of assemblies will be synchronised will be spread over three phases. The Commission would recommend that the first phase may deal with state assemblies whose period will have to be curtailed by a few months — three or six months.

In case a government falls due to no confidence or if there is a hung House, the Commission would recommend constitution of a “unity government” with representatives from various political parties.

In case the unity government formula does not work, the law panel would recommend holding fresh elections for the remainder of the term of the House.

“Suppose fresh elections are called for and the government still has three years, then polls should be for the remainder of the term — three years — to ensure sustainability,” a source explained.

Besides the Law Commission, a high-level committee under former president Ram Nath Kovind is also working on a report on how simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, municipalities and panchayats can be held by tweaking the Constitution and the existing legal framework.

It is likely to incorporate recommendation of the law panel in its report.

Along with the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May this year, elections for at least four assemblies are likely to take place, while state polls for Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand are expected later this year.

Bihar and Delhi are scheduled for assembly polls next year, while Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala are scheduled for 2026, and Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur in 2027.

As many as nine states may have assembly polls scheduled for 2028 — Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Law Commission has advised the Centre against lowering the age of consent from 18 to 16 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, arguing that doing so will have a negative impact on the fight against child marriage and child trafficking.

The panel has, however, said it considers it necessary to bring about amendments in the Act to “remedy the situation” in cases in which there is tacit approval from children aged between 16 and 18. It said “guided judicial discretion” can be applied in such cases.

In December last year, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had urged parliament to address growing concerns related to the age of consent under the POCSO Act. 

In its report to the Law Ministry, the 22nd Law Commission of India has said, “After a careful review of existing child protection laws, various judgements and considering the maladies of child abuse, child trafficking and child prostitution that plague our society, the Commission is of the measured view that it is not advisable to tinker with the existing age of consent under the POCSO Act.” 

The panel, which is headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, former chief justice of the Karnataka High Court, said it had considered all the views and suggestions given in connection with cases involving those between the ages of 16 and 18.

“The Commission considers it necessary that certain amendments need to be brought in the POCSO Act to remedy the situation in cases wherein there is tacit approval in fact though not consent in law on part of the child aged between 16 to 18 years,” the report said. 

The panel said it was of the considered opinion that such cases do not merit being dealt with the same severity as cases that “were ideally imagined to fall under” the POCSO Act.

“The Commission, therefore, deems it fit to introduce guided judicial discretion in the matter of sentencing in such cases. This will ensure that the law is balanced, thus safeguarding the best interests of the child,” it added.

The recommendations of the Law Commission are not binding, and will be studied and taken into consideration by the government, which will take a final call. 

‘Poses Difficult Questions’

Speaking at an event in December last year, Chief Justice Chandrachud had spoken about judgments of the POCSO courts in ‘romantic cases’ – involving consenting adolescents engaging in sexual activity.

“As you are no doubt aware, the POCSO Act criminalises all sexual activity for those under the age of 18 regardless of whether consent is factually present between the two minors in a particular case. In my time as a judge, I have observed that this category of cases poses difficult questions for judges across the spectrum. There is growing concern surrounding this issue, which must be considered by the Legislature in light of reliable research by experts in adolescent healthcare,” said the CJI.

He had said there is a culture of silence around sexual abuse of children and the state must encourage families to report abuse even where the perpetrator is a family member.