“Custody for 90 days will ruin lives”: NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad on new criminal laws

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) (NCP-SP) leader Jitendra Awhad on Saturday criticised the central government for the new criminal laws that extend the maximum duration of police custody under general criminal law from 15 days to either 60 days or 90 days, claiming that custody for 90 days would “ruin lives”.
The new criminal laws will come into force on July 1.
“This is a law to replace CrPC. This law is old, the leaders of the center are saying this. Now police custody will be for 90 days. If you keep them for 90 days for a small crime, then your whole life will be ruined. Especially political activists like us, who are the voice of dissent, the voice of rebellion, if they are kept in custody for 90 days to silence their voice, then in September, 10 people like us are picked up and detained, then we will not be able to contest elections”, Awahd said while speaking to ANI.
“If we stay inside for 3 months, then from where will we contest elections?… They (BJP leaders) said they would finish the Muslim Personal Law, which means they were going to change the constitution…” he added.
The three laws, i.e., the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, replace the earlier criminal laws, namely, the Indian Penal Code 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, police custody under general criminal laws has been increased from 15 days to 90 days, depending on the nature of the offense.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita will have 358 sections (instead of 511 sections in the IPC). A total of 20 new crimes have been added to the bill, and the imprisonment sentence has been increased for 33 of them. The amount of the fine has been increased in 83 crimes and mandatory minimum punishment has been introduced in 23 crimes. The penalty of community service has been introduced for six crimes and 19 sections have been repealed or removed from the bill.
Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita will have 531 sections (in place of 484 sections of CrPC). A total of 177 provisions have been changed in the bill, and nine new sections as well as 39 new sub-sections have been added to it. The draft act has added 44 new provisions and clarifications. Timelines have been added to 35 sections and audio-video provision has been added at 35 places.
A total of 14 sections have been repealed and removed from the bill Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam will have 170 provisions (instead of the original 167 provisions), and a total of 24 provisions have been changed. Two new provisions and six sub-provisions have been added and six provisions have been repealed or deleted from the bill.
The recent criminal justice reform in India marks a significant shift in priorities, placing crimes against women, children, and the nation at the forefront. This stands in stark contrast to colonial-era laws, where concerns like treason and treasury offenses outweighed the needs of ordinary citizens