Enactment of new criminal laws a 'cut-paste' job : Chidambaram

He also claimed the new Acts are an overwhelmingly "cut and paste" exercise, with a few new provisions added - some acceptable and some not acceptable.

His remarks came a day after union home minister Amit Shah termed the enactment of the three criminal laws as the biggest reform in independent India and said they will make the judicial process not only affordable and accessible but also simpler, time-bound and transparent.

In a post on “X”,he said,” I had sent a dissent note to the Parliamentary Standing Committee that examined the three Bills, and it is part of the Report tabled in Parliament”.

“In my dissent note, after comparing section by section the IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act with the corresponding new Bill, I had asserted that: 90-95% of the IPC, 95% of the CrPC and  99% of the Evidence Act have beencut and pasted in the new bill”,he said.

Chidambaram's assertion in his dissent note was not challenged in Parliament or elsewhere.

"I maintain that the new Bills, now Acts, are overwhelmingly a 'cut and paste' exercise, with a few new provisions added — some acceptable and some not acceptable," he said.

"The whole exercise was a waste and has only created confusion in the administration of justice among judges, lawyers and the police," Chidambaram said.

Addressing an event marking one year of the rolling out of the three criminal laws, Shah had on 30 June, Monday, stressed that the Narendra Modi government framed the new laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) — to ensure that all rights of citizens are protected and no criminal goes unpunished.