Opposition wants house panel to hear views of Fali, Lalit and Lokur on crime laws

The views of former chief justice of India UU Lalit, former Supreme Court judge Madan Lokur and jurist Fali Nariman should be sought on the bills meant to replace criminal justice laws, Opposition MPs in the parliamentary panel examining the proposed laws have suggested.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs is examining the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023; and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023, introduced on the last day of the monsoon session of Parliament, to replace the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act. The panel, which has been regularly holding meetings, is expected to submit its report on the bills in the winter session of Parliament.

Opposition members in the panel are learnt to have shared with the committee chairman a list containing names of 16 domain experts whose views the MPs wanted the committee to seek. Apart from Lalit, Lokur and Nariman, the Opposition list included names of criminal law practitioners with domain knowledge of several decades and former judges of high courts, it is learnt.


Opposition members welcomed features of the new bills such as the provision for zero FIR, introduction of online facility for filing a complaint to its disposal, and a few others. They are believed to have stressed that the process should not be rushed through as the laws have long-term implications. The next meeting of the standing committee is scheduled to take place on September 22 and 23.