P. Chidambaram, a former Union minister and Congress leader, declared today that if the India bloc wins the presidency, it will pass a special law implementing the Supreme Court’s ruling that “bail is the rule, and jail is the exception.”
Additionally, we pledge to introduce a unique law that would declare, “Jail is the exception, bail is the rule.” During a press conference held here, Mr. Chidambaram stated that Justice Krishna, a great son of Kerala, was the one who highlighted this law.
The lower courts, magistrates, and district judges seldom adhere to this rule; in the end, not every person is able to petition the Supreme Court for bail. Since 65% of the inmates are on trial and not found guilty, one may wonder why they are imprisoned. Ninety percent of the undertrials are OBCs, SCs, and STs. As a result, we would introduce a special law that would say, “Bail is the rule, jail is the exception.” Everyone would be eligible for bail after the first fifteen days of questioning by the CBI or the police, he continued.
Additionally, Mr. Chidambaram stated that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the three criminal laws introduced by the BJP government would be repealed if the India bloc were to win an electoral majority at the national level.
“The CAA 2019 is at the top of the list of laws that we will repeal, amend, and review. At a press conference held here, Mr. Chidambaram responded to a question from ANI regarding the following laws: the Farmers Produce, Trade, and Commerce Promotion of Facilitation Act 2020; the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, which is equivalent to the IPC; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which is the CrPC; and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Act, which is the Evidence Act.
“Everyone will completely repeal these five. Eight laws will then be repealed, and new ones will be created. The remaining twenty-five laws will be revised to bring them into compliance with the Constitution. Thus, we are quite certain that the Citizenship Amendment Act will be revoked, “Mr. Chidambaram, the Union Home Minister during the UPA government’s tenure from 2008 to 2012, stated.
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Additionally, he denied the claim made by the CPM leaders that the Congressmen remained silent regarding CAA.
“Shashi Tharoor has been vocally critical of the CAA, and this has been widely reported. Priyanka Gandhi said we oppose CAA.” Mr Chidambaram, the chairman of the Congress manifesto committee
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan recently said at an election rally that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress were silent on CAA and had the “same mindset” as Sangh Parivar. He also claimed that the Kerala Congress unit withdrew at the behest of the party’s national leadership after initially joining the Left front to oppose the CAA.
“We promise that all anti-people laws passed by the BJP/NDA without proper parliamentary scrutiny and debate, especially those relating to workers, farmers, criminal justice, environment and forests, and digital data protection, will be thoroughly reviewed and changed,” reads the Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha election under the heading “REVERSING THE DAMAGE.”
Under the CAA, undocumented migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 and who belong to six non-Muslim communities—Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian—can apply for citizenship. The application process also shortens the current 11-year qualifying period to five years.
