Skip to main content

Ensure stay on new 'anti-democratic' criminal laws: Petition to Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar, others

Counterview Desk 
Close to 3,700 signatories, including Tushar Gandhi, Tanika Sarkar, Henri Tiphagne, Major Gen (retd) Sudhir Vombatkere, Teesta Setalvad, Kavita Srivastava, Shabnam Hashmi and others have sought the urgent intervention of Chief Minister Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu asking him to ensure a stay on the implementation of the new criminal laws.
Also sent to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and the INDI Alliance partners, in their petition they said, the three new criminal laws, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, "were hurriedly pushed through  Parliament on 20th December 2023 without a debate."
In fact, the petition asserts, the proposed new laws, to come into effect on July 1, "would enable the government to dramatically scale up arrest, detention, prosecution and imprisonment of law abiding democratic opponents, dissidents and activists" and "transform India into a fascist state".

Text: 

Hearty congratulations to you on being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
We, the undersigned, are also glad to note that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is destined to play a major role in national politics.
Under the circumstances, we are hopeful that the TDP will use the opportunity to firmly uphold the basic principles enshrined in the Constitution of India and will do everything in its power to defend democratic rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution.
Sadly, as the situation stands now, there is a grave threat that is hanging over the nation in the form of three new criminal laws, namely, 'Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023', 'Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023', and 'Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023', which were hurriedly pushed through  Parliament on 20th December 2023 without a debate.
These laws are scheduled to come into effect from 01st July 2024 and Sir you need to act immediately.
Our major concern is that the amendments made in the then existing laws are such that they are mostly draconian in nature. They deal exclusively with matters of life and liberty and criminal harm that can be caused to an individual in other multiple and various ways. They also (adversely affect) deal with civil liberties of citizens more particularly in the matter of freedom of speech, right to assembly, right to associate, right to demonstrate, and their other civil rights, which can be criminalized as part of the law and order provisions of these three laws. 
Essentially,  these new criminal laws would equip the government with adequate power to hollow out our democracy and transform India into a fascist state – should the government choose to deploy the new laws to their fullest extent.
The proposed new laws would enable the government to dramatically scale up arrest, detention, prosecution and imprisonment of law abiding democratic opponents, dissidents and activists.
We earnestly urge you meet a team of legal expects from our side, who could brief you on the implications of the new criminal laws
Some of the chilling features of the new Criminal Code as requiring special attention are:
(1) the criminalisation of legitimate, lawful, non-violent democratic speech or action as ‘terrorism’;
(2) the broadening of the offence of sedition  in a new and more vicious avatar (what could be called “sedition-plus”);
(3) the expansion of the potential for “selective prosecution” — targeted, politically-biased prosecution of ideological and political opponents;
(4) the criminalisation of a common mode of political protest against government through fasting; 
(5) encouraging the use of force against any assembly of persons; 
(6) exponentially enhancing ‘police raj’ by criminalising “resisting, refusing, ignoring or disregarding to conform to any direction given by [a police officer]”;
(7) enhancing handcuffing;
(8) maximising police custody during investigation;
(9) making the recording of a FIR discretionary for the police;
(10) dialling up the pain of imprisonment;
(11) compelling all persons (even those not accused of any crime) to provide their biometrics to the government; and
(12) shielding of some of the Sangh parivar’s activities.
It is this impending threat to the democratic structure of this nation that has compelled us to seek your immediate intervention to stay the implementation of these questionable laws until their implications are throughly reexamined by a team of legal experts and debated on the floor of the Indian Parliament.
Since there are still seventeen days left before the said criminal laws go into effect, we earnestly urge you meet a team of legal expects from our side, who could brief you on the implications of the new criminal laws, which would enable your party to take appropriate decision to prevent an impending blow to civil liberties.
We do hope you would respond positively to this appeal and take the requisite steps to stay the implementation of the said criminal laws.
Sir, once endorsed, we hope to send this letter petition to all Opposition leaders.

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan   M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.
Post a Comment
»

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai*  The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.
Post a Comment
»

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”
Post a Comment
»

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.
Post a Comment
»

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.
Post a Comment
»

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

​ By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  ​The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.
Post a Comment
»

Beneath the stone: Revisiting the New Jersey mandir controversy

By Rajiv Shah  A recent report published in the British media outlet The Guardian , titled “Workers carved the largest modern Hindu temple in the west. Now, some have incurable lung disease,” took me back to my visits to the New Jersey mandir —first in 2022, when it was still under construction, though parts of it were open to visitors, and again in 2024, after its completion.
Post a Comment
»

School closures across states raise concerns amid Govt of India claims of improved access

By A Representative   A recent report has raised concerns over the closure and merger of government schools in several Indian states, particularly in Bihar, where a significant number of institutions have reportedly been shut down or earmarked for closure.
Post a Comment
»

Health activist group raises concerns over HPV vaccination drive, seeks temporary halt

By A Representative   Swasthya Adhikar Manch, a public health advocacy group, has urged the Union government to ensure greater accountability and transparency in the ongoing Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign, and called for its temporary suspension pending a comprehensive review. In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, the group flagged what it described as unresolved concerns surrounding the nationwide rollout of the HPV vaccine, which began on February 28, 2026. The campaign targets 14-year-old girls and involves administering Gardasil, a quadrivalent vaccine intended to protect against certain strains of HPV linked to cervical cancer.
Post a Comment
»