The Bengal government has formed a seven-member committee to review the new criminal laws that came into effect from July 1, a development that could be another flash point between the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s state.

The committee, notified on Tuesday, comprises Justice (retd) Ashim Kumar Roy, a former Calcutta High Court judge who is Bengal’s Lokayukta, state ministers Malay Ghatak and Chandrima Bhattacharya, state advocate general Kishore Datta, standing counsel for the state in the Supreme Court Sanjay Basu, director-general of police Rajeev Kumar and Calcutta police commissioner Vineet Goyal.

"The committee shall have the power to engage academic experts, senior advocates, research assistants, and other legal experts for seeking their views on the subject matter," reads the order issued by the state home department.

The order further states: "The committee shall also have the power to carry out public consultations and seek opinion from the public."

A three-month deadline has been set for the committee to submit its findings via a report.

The committee's responsibility is to suggest state specific amendments to the three criminal laws. The committee will also consider whether the names of any of the criminal laws need to be changed at the state level. It is empowered to make any other suggestions it deems necessary.

The Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, which replaced the British era Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Evidence Act respectively, were passed by the Narendra Modi government in its second term with over 100 opposition MPs suspended in both Houses of Parliament.

Several legal luminaries like Indira Jaisingh and Sanjay Hegde have criticised the new laws, expressing fear it would lead to the creation of a "police state" as the cops have been given unprecedented discretionary power.

The Mamata Banerjee government has reasoned that the Article 246(2) of the Constitution empowers the states to make laws "with respect to any of the matters enlisted" in the concurrent list.

The Bengal government notification states that the state government had written to the Centre to defer the operations of the said laws and the Centre did not take into consideration any of the issues raised by the Bengal government.