In a joint statement, the Platform of Central Trade Unions said “now any gathering of people and the leaders of the gatherings can be declared terrorists. All trade union activities can be brought under this provision.”

THE Platform of Central Trade Unions (CTUs) and several independent federations have called for immediate withdrawal of the three new criminal laws, which have come into effect from July 1.

Urging the government to revert to the earlier laws, a joint statement issued by 10 CTUs on July 8, said the changes “should be discussed in public domain before adopting and implementing them,” as these changes have been “forced on the people without proper consultation, even ignoring the suggestions given by the parliamentary committee, and without making the draft publicly available.”

“The justification that these are meant to replace the British-era laws, is false as it retains all the provisions of the earlier laws, making some of them even more stringent. For example, Section 124 of IPC, which is meant to punish sedition (a typical British Raj enactment) has been retained and its provision for 3 years imprisonment, has been enhanced to 7 years! Any gatherings of people and the leaders of the gatherings can be declared terrorists. All trade union activities can be brought under this provision,” read the statement signed by INTUC, CITU, AITUC, SEWA, HMS, AIUTUC, AICCTU, UTUC, LPF and TUCC.

Below we publish the full statement:

The common people are likely to be unaware of the far-reaching implications of the 3 new criminal laws that have been implemented from  July 1, 2024.

It is to be noted that:

These laws have been forced on the people without proper consultation, even ignoring suggestions given by the parliamentary committee, without making the draft publicly available.

The justification that these are meant to replace the British-era laws, is false as it retains all the provisions of the earlier laws, making some of them even more stringent. For example, Section 124 of IPC, which is meant to punish sedition (a typical British Raj enactment) has been retained and its provision for 3 years imprisonment, has been enhanced to 7 years! Any gatherings of people and the leaders of the gatherings can be declared terrorists. All trade union activities can be brought under this provision.

Moreover various sections have been renumbered, which will lead to confusion and may cause huge pendency of cases – with present 6.4 crore cases pending in the lower courts already becoming unmanageable – over the next few years.

The case law, built up over more than 100 years of use of the laws which were replaced, will be of no use and the litigants, the lawyers, the judges will be struggling to reach constitutional conclusions.

The SHOs have been vested with all the powers to register an FIR, i.e., to register one, will also be their discretion, unlike the earlier provision, under which it was the right of every citizen to file an FIR. The police custody duration is increased from existing 15 days to 90 days. The police are empowered to book case against peaceful protestors and gheraoing workers for their genuine demands. This may usher in a police raj to suit the oppressive designs of the ruling dispensation and its mentors. Even the prevailing term in the definition clauses, “Court of Justice” to depict courts, is just re-termed to be only “Court”.

Already it had a backlash from truck drivers across the country due to severe provisions related to hit and run cases, the government had to step back and say that those sections will not be implemented, but they have not repealed them.

There is also an objection that Hindi is being imposed on people who do not have that as their language. Even Article 348 of the constitution and the Official Languages Act mandate that the texts of all enactments of parliament and legislatures should be in English.

It has even been suggested that instead of the mess created, a five-page document could have been circulated, suggesting the amendments to the existing laws.

In short, this is another chicken brained step by this government, similar to the demonetisation in 2016, only more dangerous, to suit the interests of neoliberal forces unleashing onslaughts on the rights of people by restructuring the criminal jurisprudence.

The platform of the central trade unions, independent federations and associations urges the government to scrap these laws and revert back to the earlier laws. Any changes proposed should be discussed in public domain before adopting and implementing them.