While the government is out to annihilate organisations like Indian Railways, the Nine Maharatna PSUs and even the best performer LIC, it is working on the stratagem to completely finish the CrPC and IPC. No doubt these two laws are old and ought to be amended in consonance to the needs of the present India. But what we are noticing is these laws are subverted to suit the needs of the saffron rulers.

In the wake of abnormal rise in the cases of lynching, responding to the demand of the members of Parliament and judiciary, in December 2019 the Home Minister Amit Shah had set up a five-member Home Panel to carry out sweeping overhaul of the criminal laws; from sedition to marital rape. The demand was made for a separate law, but instead of framing a new law the Modi government has been contemplating to alter the IPC and CrPC.

The five members would frame a new law. The amount of importance that the Modi government has attached to this task could be understood from the simple fact that Amit Shah did not think better to have a big committee for detail discussion and deliberations. These five people are competent enough to write the destiny of the 13o0 crore people of the country. Little doubt at some level it also underlines the utter contempt of the saffron leaders towards the people of the country.

“Does the offence of sedition under Section 124A require omission or any amendment in terms of its definition, scope and cognizability?” is one of the 49 questions that are being considered. In ra natural course the sedition should have been outright scrapped. The new committee ought to have dropped this from their agenda. The Indian Penal Code and Indian Evidence Act were enacted by the Imperial Legislative Council in 1860 and 1872 respectively. Reform of these laws is long overdue. Nevertheless changing laws need more wider consultations.

The Britishers had framed it to protect their class interest. The manner in which the Modi government and his home minister are encouraging the police to use and practice the law, it is explicit that the five member committee would make it more draconian as it is inevitable that in coming days the saffron government is going to face more protests with government hell bent to curb the basic human rights and gagging the voice of protest,

The committee, headed by Dr Ranbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor of National Law University, Delhi, has sought a round of online public and expert consultation on substantive and procedural criminal law and the law on evidence. The committee, constituted on May 5, is also considering the introduction of special laws to counter violent incidents. Interestingly it has not defined or underlined the nature of the violence; whether the violence is vigilante in nature or perpetrated by the saffron brigade that had happened during Delhi riots or is now practiced and executed by the Delhi police.

What a paradox; while the committee will like to deliberate judgments of the Supreme Court on issues such as euthanasia and sexual intercourse of man and his minor wife. In 2017, it is not bothered to debate the criminal offences against the poor and their exploitation by the rich. For them it falls under the ambit of the labour laws.

One thing is absolutely clear that the judiciary, the police and the statutes have miserably failed to do justice to the rape victims. It is their failure that has been at the base of abnormal rise in the rape cases. Although courts have settled the law on the consent of a woman in rape cases, it is an issue that is often debated. “What should be the standard of consent under Section 375 of the IPC?” the committee asked.

The committee ought to think of deterrent measures. How it should be administered and what should be the nature of punishment. On revising punishment for various offences, the committee must specify what additional types of punishment are being considered. It must refrain from looking at the statutes from the communal angle. It is widely known fact that of late the laws are distorted to suit the needs of the ruling party and his activists. The people indulging in hatred campaign are let free without any punishment whereas the innocent who dare to question the administration, the government and the rulers are let to lurch. How the government has been treating some prominent academics, intellectuals and journalists are the bare examples.

There is nothing to hide that Modi government needs a statute which will suit it curbing the public protest and punishing the protesters. With the government making a tactical shift towards Hindu Rashtra it is sure that secular, liberal and democratic forces will rise to protest. The Modi government intends to finish them at the embryonic stage. This new IPC will be of much help to him.

Protests are also brewing up against the proposed sale of the profit making Navratnas and Maharatna PSUs. The government has already put the much acclaimed LIC on sale. Unfortunately for Modi government the process is getting delayed as it is not getting the right buyers. The politics of hatred and intolerance has scared the purchasers. One development that ought to be paid serious attention is the unwillingness of the government to improve its economy and bring it on track. Instead what it has been doing is to sale these profit making organisations, the spine of the Indian economy, and hand over the sale proceed to the friends of the Modi government.

The primary reason for selling them is they symbolise the secular character of the country, which has got no place in a Hindu Rashtra. Instead of exploring the avenues to raise the revenue, the Modi government is using the fund received from disinvestment as revenue. This is most ridiculous. The Modi government is also weighing the option of privatising a few large state-run firms including oil refiners through strategic disinvestment. The government has been putting so many options in public domain, but these are all vague and unclear for obvious reasons.

The government as a face saving move says that it does not want to sale the PSUs. But trying to get simply fund out of them. If the government really feels that they are in good condition then why not it is remodelling the management and turn it more productive.

It is the economy of the country that defines the economy. It is obvious that the current political and economic contour of the country would prove to be a major deterrent in the path of saffron brigade to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra. The government is working the change the laws to suit the buyers. There are various things which are being talked about today such as selling the entire holding to a private partner or strategic investor. If they don’t want it to be a government company, they can decide to do whatever they want to do. The experts feel that this is what they are currently thinking of, selling the entire stake in some firms that includes Maharatna and Navratna PSUs to a private investor. (IPA Service)