Key Bills to be introduced to replace colonial era criminal laws

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was greeted with loud cheers in the Lok Sabha as the Parliament’s Winter Session began this morning. Chants of “teesri bar Modi sarkar” echoed in the Lok Sabha a day after the BJP swept the Assembly polls in the three heartland States.

The Prime Minister was seated in the front row with his Cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari. BJP MPs in rows behind him clapped and cheered for his return to power for a third term as the country goes to polls next year.

The BJP contested the recent Assembly elections without projecting any Chief Ministerial faces and projected only PM Modi as the face of the party.

The Winter Session began a day after the State Election results were declared for three heartland States and one in the south. The BJP not only retained power in Madhya Pradesh but also dethroned Congress in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The Congress managed to win Telangana, removing the Bharat Rashtra Samithi from power after 10 years.

The leaders of the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc are meeting today ostensibly to redraw their strategies to take on PM Modi-led BJP both inside the Parliament and in the electoral arena.

On the other hand, after BJP’s massive victory in the Assembly elections, the party will seek to corner the Congress-led Opposition when the Parliament Ethics Committee report, recommending TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s expulsion, is expected to be tabled in the Lok Sabha.

The Ethics Panel Committee chief Vinod Kumar Sonkar is set to present the first report on Mahua Moitra in the cash-for-query case. Moitra has been accused of receiving cash and expensive gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani for asking questions in Parliament. The report was scheduled to be tabled today, but was postponed after ruckus in the House.

The Committee, at a meeting on Nov. 9, adopted its report recommending Mahua Moitra’s expulsion from the Lok Sabha over the allegations. Calling Moitra’s actions “highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal”, the panel has said she should not be allowed to continue as an MP and her Lok Sabha membership should be terminated.

Key bills to be tabled

The Government has presented a heavy legislative agenda for the 15 sittings of the winter session with key Bills to replace the colonial era criminal laws, a draft legislation to provide for a framework for appointment of the Election Commissioners.

Some of the Bills that are likely to be taken up during the winter session are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 2023 to overhaul the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, are among the key legislations likely to be taken up during the session. Other Bills include one to regulate the appointments of the Chief Election Commission and other election commissioners.

Modi Government plans to expand reservation for women in legislative bodies to cover Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry assemblies and has listed two new Bills for this purpose in the upcoming winter session.

The Opposition leaders have also sought discussion in the Parliament on issues such as the situation in Manipur, rising inflation, ‘misuse’ of Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.