SC Declines to Hear PIL Challenging New Criminal Laws

The Supreme Court declined to entertain a PIL on Monday challenging the three new criminal laws, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.

Noting the PIL filed by Chennai resident T Sivagnanasambandan, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra dismissed it on grounds of locus.

“Who are you to challenge the new criminal laws? You have no locus standi (a right to be heard),” the CJI remarked while rejecting the PIL.

The PIL had cited the Union ministries of Home and Law and Justice as respondents. The newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam aim to completely overhaul the criminal justice system in the country and will come into effect from July 1 this year.

These laws, replacing the colonial era Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872, received Parliament’s approval on December 21 last year and presidential assent on December 25, 2023.