Staff Writer
The Indian government proposed tougher penalties for crimes against women and mob lynchings on Friday as part of the largest reform of the nation’s criminal justice system since the British colonial era.
During the 19th century, when India was ruled by the British crown, the Penal Code and other laws governing the police and courts were enacted.
Home Minister Amit Shah told parliament on Friday that comprehensive reforms to the laws would eliminate outdated references to the British monarchy and other “signs of our slavery.”
While introducing measures for the reforms, he told MPs that “these laws were made to strengthen colonial rule, to protect colonial rulers, and the intention was to punish and not give justice.”
“We’re going to change this, and the goal of these new laws will be to safeguard our citizens’ constitutional rights.”
Mob lynchers who violate new legal rules would receive the death penalty and gang rape offenders would receive sentences of at least 20 years.
To reduce the ongoing backlog of criminal proceedings in India, the legislation also include provisions for community service for minor offenses.
In a nation where both can go on for years without conclusion, trials and criminal investigations would be subject to set deadlines.
The bills may be passed before the present legislature adjourns in advance of the general elections in May despite having been submitted to a parliamentary committee for additional consideration.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked to eradicate all trace of colonial authority from India’s political institutions, urban environment, and history books.
It has replaced outdated colonial-era buildings in the parliamentary area of New Delhi, the nation’s capital, which was initially established by the British.
