The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a public interest litigation challenging three new laws that collectively overhaul the country’s criminal justice system, Live Law reported.
The petitioner, lawyer Vishal Tiwari, decided to withdraw the plea after the top court did not show any interest in considering it.
Tiwari filed a petition seeking a stay on the three new laws: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. The three laws will come into force on July 1, replacing the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act.
The petition also sought directions for setting up an expert committee to examine the viability of the three laws.
A vacation bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal, however, dismissed the petition. Justice Trivedi said that the laws had not yet come into force, while Justice Mithal remarked that the petition had been drafted “in a casual manner", according to Live Law.
In February, the Supreme Court dismissed a similar petition challenging the three new laws.
The three laws were passed in the Winter Session of Parliament on December 21 in the absence of several Opposition MPs. A hundred Opposition MPs in the Lower House, besides 46 in the Upper House, were suspended during the Winter Session for disrupting the proceedings as they sought a discussion on the December 13 security breach in the Lok Sabha chamber.
On December 26, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the three new laws.
Also read: Are the new criminal law bills really anti-colonial? Here’s why experts say no
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!