Student bodies at six legal institutions and 440 law students have penned an open letter to the committee set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs, tasked with recommending reforms to the criminal laws in India, objecting to the lack of diversity and representation in the panel. The letter laments that there is not a single woman in the committee nor is there any representation of marginalised communities. The letter states that without such representation, the laws of the country may get amended without taking into account the lived realities of these communities.
The National Level Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws has been appointed by the MHA to recommend reforms to the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act.
“The lack of a woman-member is especially appalling as historically, women have been excluded from such processes,” the letter notes. “This resulted in regressive notions being written into the law, which did not account for the lived realities of women. Over the years, we have endeavoured, as a society, to ensure greater participation of women in discussions over such important issues, and their present exclusion is a seriously retrogressive step,” the letter adds.
The six institutions that have signed the letter include Legal Services Clinic, NLSIU; Student Bar Association, NLSIU; Student Body, Jindal Global Law School; Legal Services Committee, NLU Delhi; Legal Aid Society, NUJS and Legal Aid Society, NLU Odisha. The individual signatories include law students and professors as well as professionals of the legal fraternity in India.
Seeking the appointment of people from the marginalised communities as well, the letter cites NCRB data and says that over 55% of undertrials and over 50% of all convicts across the country are either Muslims, Dalits or tribals, even though these communities account for only 39% of the total population of the country.
“This shows that these communities face disproportionate incarceration due to laws and systems biased against them. Therefore, their voices must be represented in the process of amendment of these laws, so as to prevent these individuals from being further marginalized by the law. Otherwise, the laws will be amended around their presence, without truly reflecting their lived realities,” the letter adds.
The letter also voices concern that it has been made difficult for the general population of India can participate in the process of suggesting reforms and though the government has tried an online consultation, it accepts suggestions only in one language.
“...A purely online consultation, with questions only provided in English, completely ignores the reality of the backgrounds of a vast majority of our population. Many places lack access to the internet and more importantly, most of the population is not fluent in the English language—the 2011 census recorded that just over 10% of Indians reported knowing and being able to speak some English,” the letter says.
The letter has sought that the process should not go forward unless there is adequate representation in the committee, and until the pandemic has substantially subsided.
The committee is headed by its chairperson Ranbir Singh (vice-chancellor, National Law University Delhi), and members include GS Bajpai (registrar, National Law University Delhi), Balraj Chauhan (first vice-chancellor, Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur), Mahesh Jethmalani (senior advocate, Supreme Court) and GP Thareja (former district and session judge, Delhi).
The committee has released a questionnaire with 19 questions for public consultation already.