The Congress party, in its manifesto released on Tuesday, has promised major legal reforms such as amendment in Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, repeal of sedition and criminal defamation and establishments of National Judicial Commission of the party comes to power in 2019..
The party said that it will amend the AFSPA in order to strike a balance between the powers of security forces and the human rights of citizens and to remove immunity for enforced disappearance, sexual violence and torture.
“Congress will initiate a total and comprehensive review of all laws, rules and regulations to repeal instruments that are outdated or unjust or unreasonably restrict the freedoms of the people, amend instruments to bring them in accord with the Constitutional values of a democracy and codify and reduce the number of instruments that must be complied with by a citizen”, it said. .
The party proposes to decriminalise laws that are essentially laws directed against civil violations and can be subjected to civil penalties.
The Congress said that it will omit Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code and make ‘defamation’ a civil offence, Omit Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, that defines the offence of ‘sedition’ that has been misused and, in any event, has become redundant because of subsequent laws.
“Amend the laws that allow for detention without trial in order to bring them in accord with the spirit, and not just the letter, of the Constitution as well as International Human Rights Conventions, pass a law titled the Prevention of Torture Act to prohibit the use of third-degree methods during custody or interrogation and punish cases of torture, brutality or other police excesses”, party said.
The Congress also promised to pass an Anti-Discrimination Law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, gender or language in the supply of goods and services that are made available to the public in general such as housing, hostels, hotels, clubs, etc.
“Code of Criminal Procedure and related laws will be amended to affirm the principle that ‘Bail is the rule and jail is the exception”, it said.
The party also suggested setting up a National Judicial Commission,that will be responsible for selection of judges for appointment to the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
“The NJC will be comprised of judges, jurists and parliamentarians and will be serviced by a secretariat. Names of suitable candidates will be placed in the public domain and the reasons for selection will be published to ensure that the entire process is transparent. Once the new system is in place, we will endeavour to fill every vacancy in the High Courts or Supreme Court within 2 months” the party said.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had struck down a Commission called the National Judicial Appointments Commission, after the apex court found it to be unconstitutional.
The Congress also promised to fix the retirement age of judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court at 65 years and the retirement age for judicial members in Commissions and Tribunals shall also be 65 years.
“This will prevent post-retirement assignments for serving judges and allow more opportunities for qualified persons to serve as judges or judicial members”, it said.
The grand old party also said that it will introduce a bill to amend the Constitution to establish a Court of Appeal between the High Courts and the Supreme Court, to hear appeals from judgments and orders of High Courts.
“The Court of Appeal will sit in multiple Benches of 3 judges each in 6 locations”, it said.
The Congress also said that it will establish, by law, an independent Judicial Complaints Commission to investigate complaints of misconduct against judges and recommend suitable action to Parliament. (UNI)
