Delhi, 12 December: Union Home Minister Amit Shah withdrew the three Bills that were originally intended to replace criminal laws and instead introduced a fresh set of draft legislations incorporating recommendations from a parliamentary panel in Lok Sabha.
He stated that rather than introducing several official amendments to incorporate the recommendations, the government decided to bring in new bills with the changes already incorporated.
The discussion on the bills is scheduled for December 14, with voting to take place on December 15.
Shah also addressed the concerns of Opposition members who requested more time to study the bills by introducing them on December 12, giving members a 48-hour window to review the draft laws.
He explained that the changes made were mainly in five sections and were mostly related to grammar and language.
The redrafted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam Bill aim to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, 1898, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively.
He also rejected suggestions of referring the bills to a joint committee, citing multiple recommendations made by the standing committee.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has allocated a total of 12 hours for discussing the three bills.
The Home Ministry on Tuesday approved the release of additional assistance amounting to โน 338.24 crore and โน 633.73 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund for Cyclone Viparjoy-hit Gujarat and rain-hit Himachal Pradesh, respectively.
According to the ministry, the central government had already released ?584 crore and ?360.8 crore to the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
It is noteworthy that during the south-west monsoon this year, Himachal Pradesh had gone through a serious disaster due to floods, cloud bursts and landslides. On the other hand, Gujarat state was badly affected by Cyclone Biparjoy.
According to the Home Ministry, an inter-ministerial central team was deputed to both states to provide immediate relief to the affected.
An amount of ?200 crore was also released in advance from the NDRF on August 21 to help the Himachal Pradesh government manage immediate relief operations. The Central Government had earlier released both installments of its share to SDRF, which totaled ?360.8 crore.
