Calcutta: The Bar Council of West Bengal has passed a significant resolution calling for a protest against three recently enacted laws and declaring July 1, 2024, as a Black Day.
In a resolution dated June 25, 2024, communicated by the President of All Bar Associations in the State of West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands on June 26, 2024, the Council expressed unanimous views regarding the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, which are set to replace the existing Indian Penal Code (IPC), Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and Indian Evidence Act.
The resolution described these three Acts as “anti-people, undemocratic, and draconian” and further stated that these new criminal laws would cause great hardship to the common people.
The Council adopted the following resolution:
“Resolved unanimously that as a mark of protest against 1) Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 2) Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and 3) Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, this Council will observe July 1, 2024, as Black Day and lawyers of West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands will abstain from their judicial work on that day. All Bar Associations will organize protest rallies in their respective associations on July 1, 2024.”
The resolution calls for all lawyers in West Bengal and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands to abstain from judicial work on July 1, 2024. Additionally, it directs all Bar Associations to organize protest rallies in their respective associations on the same day.
In a parallel development, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken a similar stance against these new laws. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Banerjee has urged the Prime Minister to defer the implementation of these laws. She has also expressed “grave concern” regarding the rollout of the new laws, characterized them as “hurriedly passed,” and voiced strong apprehension about their impending implementation.
