Supreme Court Denies to Entertain PIL Against New Criminal Laws

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a PIL challenging the newly enacted criminal laws which will replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 from July 1, 2024.

As the Bench wasn’t inclined to entertain it, the petitioner-in-person advocate Vishal Tiwari Tiwari chose to withdraw it. The PIL was accordingly “dismissed as withdrawn”.

A Bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Pankaj Mithal remarked, “The petition is drafted in a casual manner… The laws have not come into force.”

In February 2024, a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud had dismissed a similar petition.

Passed by Parliament in the Winter Session of Parliament, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 received President Droupadi Murmu’s assent on December 25 and would come into effect from July 1, 2024.

In his PIL, Tiwari alleged that there were several “defects and discrepancies” in the new criminal laws. He alleged that the three new criminal laws were enacted without any parliamentary debate as most of the opposition members were under suspension.