The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed with a voice vote three critical criminal law bills pushed by home minister Amit Shah in a House that resembled a ruling party echo chamber; the unprecedented suspension decrees on MPs over the past few days had ensured the Opposition benches were bereft.
Taking little note of how one-sided the Lok Sabha was during the passage of bills so critical, Shah claimed the three bills, replacing the colonial-era laws, were in accordance with the “Constitutional spirit” and “Bharatiya ethos of justice”.
Exactly a week back, the same chamber was stormed by two smoke canister-carrying youths who wanted to highlight issues like unemployment and the tragedy in Manipur. Shah has so far refused to speak on the security breach. Two more MPs, Thomas Chazhikadan of Kerala Congress (Mani) and the CPM’s A.M. Arif, were suspended on Wednesday, for the same offence as their colleagues — vociferously demanding Shah’s statement on the security lapse.
Wednesday’s suspensions pushed the tally of ousted Opposition members to 143, of which 97 belong to the Lok Sabha.
The debate over the three redrafted bills — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill — had started in the post-lunch session on Tuesday after 49 Opposition MPs, in addition to 46 earlier, were suspended; it continued on Wednesday after which Shah replied.
Of the total 35 MPs who participated in the debate, over two-thirds were BJP members, who appeared to be competing like cheerleaders to heap praise on the Modi-Shah duo for bringing the bills to erase “gulami ki nishani” (symbols of slavery). The three bills will replace the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act.
“I want to say something about Amit Shah ji. He does what he says but he also does what he doesn’t say,” actor-turned-BJP MP Hema Malini said, praising the bill, spreading a smile on Shah’s face.
Hema Malini hailed Shah’s hard work and commitment for “Bharat’s unity, integrity and safety of its citizens” and went on to recite a poem in praise of the minister. The only demand she placed was for a stringent law to protect animal rights, saying the three bills didn’t have provisions to cover them.
Technically, the Opposition was represented in the House in the form of members of the BJD, YSRCP, BSP and some others, but barring a few they hardly found any fault with the provisions in the bill. Many of them in fact sounded like ruling side representatives as they hailed the bills as a great piece of reform.
The only credible opposition came from Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM and Simranjit Singh Mann, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Mann) MP from Sangrur in Punjab.
“This is an undemocratic practice of debating these bills because the Opposition is not even present. Secondly, they are unconstitutional again because the Opposition is not present,” Mann, a former IPS officer, said.
Owaisi, who is not part of the INDIA bloc, slammed the three bills, fearing that they had draconian provisions that could be used to further suppress the rights of the Muslims, Dalits and tribals.
The government used the emptiness on the Opposition benches to field one BJP member after another, including contentious ones like terror accused Pragya Singh who had called Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuran Godse a patriot. Ramesh Bidhuri, who had hurled low and abrasive communal abuses on BSP MP Danish Ali and is yet to face action, was also among those who hailed the proposed laws.
Bidhuri slammed the youths who had stormed the Lok Sabha and demanded that strict terror laws be invoked against them so that “no one in the future dares to denigrate India’s democracy”.
As Shah rose to reply to the debate, he looked at the empty Opposition benches and said that “nobody was there to speak” and that had they been present to listen to him they would have understood what difference the new laws would make. “The new laws will be like injecting life into a corpse,” he said.
“Thirty-five MPs have participated in the debate. There are not many suggestions of change… but some like Owaisi have concerns that should not be addressed,” he said, firmly batting for no mercy and for stringent provisions for “anti-national” offences. He slammed the Congress for not making stringent laws against mob lynching.
“Why didn’t you (Congress) bring a law against mob lynching during the 58 years you were in power? It’s because of this that you are sitting that side (in Opposition) and now you are out (of the House),” he said, taking digs at the party for not being able to appreciate the new laws due to their “Italian mindset”.
In a post on X, the Congress’s Jairam Ramesh said: “Today the Home Minister got the 3 draconian Criminal Justice Bills passed in the Lok Sabha without any informed dissent. Tomorrow he will get them passed in the Rajya Sabha too without any different viewpoint expressed on them by the best legal minds. Now you know why 144 INDIA MPs were thrown out of both Houses.”
Shah went on to hail Modi for fulfilling promises he had made, counting among them the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, the abolition of instant triple talak, the enactment of a law for 33 per cent reservation to women and the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
“We had said that as soon as possible we will build the Ram temple, and it is going to open on January 22, this is the Narendra Modi government that does what it says,” Shah said, amid loud applause from party MPs.
