Tamil Nadu: Advocates protest against three criminal laws, demand their withdrawal

Chennai, Jul 5 (PTI) A large number of advocates in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu staged a protest on Friday against the Sanskritised Hindi names for the three new criminal laws that came into effect across the country from July 1 and demanded their immediate withdrawal.

The AIADMK advocates wing led by its secretary I S Inbadurai staged a demonstration in front of the Madras High Court protesting against the three new criminal laws - the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam and the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita - replacing the Indian Penal Code, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, respectively.

Inbadurai, a former legislator, later told reporters that these laws should immediately be revoked as they would cause confusion.

DMK advocate wing secretary N R Elango, who led a similar protest here, alleged these three criminal laws were "anti-democratic and anti-constitutional as they are named in Sanskrit which cannot be done as per Article 348." "Not only that, they are against the interests of the persons accused of the offence and persons who are victims of the offence. So, this cannot be implemented. They have to be abolished and revisited," Elango told reporters.

The Parliament, he said, has to take up the exercise of revisiting these laws. Otherwise the DMK's legal wing and advocate fraternity of Tamil Nadu will not rest, he added. PTI