The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday a public interest litigation (PIL) against the three criminal laws replacing the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act.
As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a vacation bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal will hear the matter on May 20.
The plea said that Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita suffer from “many defects and discrepancies”.
“All three criminal laws were passed and enacted without any parliamentary debate as unfortunately most of the members were under suspension during the period,” said the plea filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari.
Further, the petitioner-in-person claimed that the title of the three laws is not accurate as per the Interpretation of Statutes and does not speak about the statute and its motive but is ambiguous in nature.
In a recent judgment, the top court urged the legislature to consider making necessary changes in the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 providing punishment to the husband and his family for inflicting any cruelty on a married woman.
It said that Sections 85 and 86 of the new penal code, which is to come into force with effect from July 1, are nothing but verbatim reproduction of Section 498A of the IPC, 1860 and the issue requires a relook by the legislature taking into consideration the pragmatic realities.