Mamata Banerjee Forms Committee to Review New Criminal Laws, Governor Warns of 'Banana Republic' Tag

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has formed a seven-member team to review the three new criminal laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanita, 2023 (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA).

The team will review the laws and suggest amendment within three months of the notification which was issued on July 16. The seven members are Justice (Retired) Ashim Kumar Roy, Retired Judge, Calcutta High Court & Lokayukta, West Bengal; Malay Ghatak, MIC, Law Department, Judicial Department and Labour Department; Chandrima Bhattacharyya, MOS (IC), Finance Department, Health & Family Welfare Department and Ld. Advocate General, West Bengal; Sanjay Basu, Ld. Sr. Standing Counsel for Bengal, Supreme Court; Director General & Inspector General of Police, West Bengal; and Commissioner of Police, Kolkata.

Banerjee, who has been opposing BNS, had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defer the implementation of the new laws. Noting that several MPs were suspended the day the laws were passed, the TMC chief said in the letter that they should be reviewed before implementation. Last week, the chief minister had said the Bengal assembly would bring a resolution opposing the laws.

The formation of the committee is a sign that Banerjee is keep to take the fight forward, said political experts.

The notification says the state government had written to the Government of India to defer the operation of the said criminal Laws, adding that the issues raised by the state were not considered by the Centre.

“In view of the importance and wide-ranging implications of the three laws, the State Government deems it necessary to constitute a Committee that shall examine the following:- (a) Suggest state-specific amendments as required of the three Criminal Laws; (b) Whether the names of the Criminal Laws are required or be changed; (c) Any other matter that the Committee may consider necessary.”

The committee will have the power to engage academic experts, senior advocates, research assistants, and other legal experts to seek their views on the issue. It will also have the power to carry out public consultation and seek opinion from the public.

Legal experts said after the committee gives its suggestions, the government can put them up to the state assembly. If passed, they have to be sent to the President via the Governor.

Governor Reacts

The move, however, has not gone down well with West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, who has called upon Banerjee to furnish an immediate report on the objectives of the committee. The Governor specifically wants to know whether the West Bengal government responded to the proposal on time when asked for by the Centre. “West Bengal cannot be a state within a state or be turned into a banana republic,” he warned.