NEW DELHI: Facing Opposition from MPs over the names of the three Bills that are set to replace the existing criminal laws, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla is believed to have informed the parliamentary panel that titles are in Sanskrit but written in English, hence not violative of Article 348.
According to sources, the second day of the meeting of the standing committee on Friday saw protests from Opposition members about the next meeting scheduled for September 11 and 12. DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran raised several concerns, including the Hindi titles of the Bills, and asserted that the titles are violative of Article 348 which mandates the use of English for all Bills and amendments, sources said.
“The title of the Bill is in Hindi, which is violative of Article 348. We are not opposed to Hindi. But if these Bills turn into Acts, the people in non-Hindi speaking states will find it difficult to pronounce and handle these Acts,” Maran is believed to have said.
Bhalla informed the panel that the new titles are in Sanskrit and written in English, hence it is not violative of Article 348 and can be read by all. Maran noted that Sanskrit is used by only 21,000 people in India. As the chairman of the committee and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Brijlal retires on September 12, there is a possibility of the constitution of a new committee, according to a source.
The meeting also saw dissenting voices when members were asked to submit their report on the Bills in 15 days. The chairman allowed flexibility when the members protested the ‘short notice’ given to review the overhaul of the key Bills. Earlier, the committee was given three months to submit its report.
The committee began its three-day meeting on Wednesday to examine the three Bills — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakhshya Bill, 2023.