Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday issued a statement critical of the Narendra Modi government’s attempts to have the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act replaced, tearing into the draft bills that are to come into force.

The chief minister, confined to rest at home on medical advice since her return from the Spain-UAE tour last month, posted her statement on X in the evening.

“Have been reading the drafts prepared by the Union home ministry to substitute the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act. Stunned to find that there is a serious attempt to quietly introduce very harsh and draconian anti-citizen provisions in these efforts,” she wrote.

“Earlier there was Sedition Law; now, in the name of withdrawing those provisions, they are introducing more severe and arbitrary measures in the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which can affect citizens more gravely,” she added.

Introducing the bills in Parliament in August — in the absence of members of the national anti-BJP bloc INDIA — Union home minister Amit Shah claimed the aim of the proposed laws would not be punitive but give justice to all and that the existing law on sedition would be repealed. A closer scrutiny, however, showed that sedition provisions were retained under a new name and with a wider definition of the offence.

While the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill is supposed to replace the IPC, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill the CrPC, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill the Indian Evidence Act.

“The current Acts should be decolonised not only in form but also in spirit. Urge the jurists and public activists of the country to study these drafts seriously for democratic contributions in the realm of the criminal justice system,” wrote Mamata on X.

“My colleagues in the Parliament will raise these issues at the Standing Committee when these will be deliberated,” added the chairperson of Trinamul Congress, the third largest party in Parliament (both Houses taken together). “Laws need to be improved in light of experiences, but colonial authoritarianism should not be allowed to have backdoor entry at Delhi.”