The Bengal government has set up a committee to suggest state-specific amendments to the three criminal laws that came into effect across the country on July 1.

The committee, set up the home department, will be chaired by a retired judge of Calcutta High Court, Justice (retired) Ashim Kumar Roy. Other committee members are Malay Ghatak, the law minister, Chandrima Bhattacharya, the minister of state, finance department, the advocate general of the state, the director general of police and the city police commissioner.

The committee will also consider whether the names of three newly introduced criminal laws are required to be changed at the state level.

However, a senior bureaucrat in Nabanna said there was hardly any scope for a state-specific amendment to the central act that had already been introduced in the country.

The formation of the review committee has prompted governor C.V. Ananda Bose “to remind” chief minister Mamata Banerjee that “Bengal should not be turned into a banana republic”.

The governor has called upon Mamata to furnish an immediate report on the objectives of the committee for review of the amended CRPC, IPC and Evidence Act. The governor wanted a specific report on whether the state had responded to the proposal on time when asked for by the Centre.