New Delhi: Over 100 retired bureaucrats who served in the top positions in Union and state governments have appealed to the Union government to defer the implementation of three new criminal laws, which are to come into force on July 1.On December 25, 2023, the President gave assent to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA). These new laws will replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872,Highlighting public “concerns” over upcoming laws, the former civil servants urged the government to hold an all-party meeting to develop a national consensus on them.“To ensure that the democratic ethos of our Republic is protected in letter and in spirit, we are of the view that it is incumbent on the Government of India to (i) defer the date (July 1, 2024) on which the three laws are to come into force and (ii) urgently call an all-party meeting to develop a national consensus on how to take these three new laws forward so as to completely remove all public concerns about the possible negative impact of these three new laws on constitutional rights and civil liberties,” the 109 signatories of the open letter said.The letter was addressed to the President, Prime Minister, Union home minister, presidents of national and state parties, and members of parliament.Reproduced below is the full text of the letter and the list of signatories.§CCG Open Letter:Review of new criminal laws needed21 June 2024ToHon’ble President of IndiaHon’ble Prime Minister of IndiaHon’ble Home Minister of IndiaPresidents of National PartiesPresidents of State PartiesMembers of Parliament (Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha)Dear Madam/Sir,Our group, the Constitutional Conduct Group, comprises former civil servants who have served in the All India and Central Services in various capacities. We have no affiliation with any political party but are strongly committed to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India.2. On 25th December 2023, the President of India gave assent to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA). As notified by the Government of India, these new criminal laws are to take effect in a few days, on 1st July 2024.3. These three criminal laws are second only to the Constitution of India in their importance in the daily lives of common people in the country, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised sections. Yet these three new complex criminal laws, which replace the entire legal edifice of criminal justice, were rushed through parliamentary approval without having to face critical questioning by the opposition in a public debate. As a result, a number of valid and important questions about the laws remain unanswered.4. Wide concern has been expressed in great detail in public discourse over the last ten months since the drafts of these new laws were first introduced in August, 2023. However, the core issues raised have not been addressed by the Union Government. These fall into three broad areas. First, the concern is that the new laws enable governments of the day (whether at the Union or State levels) to immobilize the practice of democracy by over-broad criminalization of legitimate, non-violent dissent and opposition against the Governments, the ruling parties and the forces that back them. The second concern is that the new laws will terrorize innocent civilians and honest public servants because they put in the hands of the Government of the day unguided, arbitrary and virtually unlimited power to selectively arrest, detain, prosecute and convict practically anyone they choose, including by branding them as terrorists and as anti-national. Third, the concern is that the new laws in effect regularise extraordinary powers which should normally be available only in legitimate states of emergency as already provided in the Constitution . The effect of these laws, as currently approved, is that, once they come into effect, India will no longer be a functioning democracy.5. Suffice it to say that the new laws are vulnerable to rampant political abuse, especially in today’s vitiated political atmosphere and the intolerance of Governments, both at the Centre and in the States, to dissent in any form and from any source. To ensure that the democratic ethos of our Republic is protected in letter and in spirit, we are of the view that it is incumbent on the Government of India to (i) defer the date (1st July 2024) on which the three laws are to come into force and (ii) urgently call an all-party meeting to develop a national consensus on how to take these three new laws forward so as to completely remove all public concerns about the possible negative impact of these three new laws on constitutional rights and civil liberties.6. We urge the highest political executive of the Government of India, the members of both Houses of Parliament and leaders of political parties to ensure that these new laws do not hollow out our constitutional rights and jeopardise our democracy. We, therefore, appeal to all of you to take urgent steps to ensure that the enforcement of the new criminal statutes is deferred and the new criminal laws are reviewed at an all-party meeting to develop a national consensus.SATYAMEVA JAYATE Yours faithfully, Constitutional Conduct Group (109 signatories, as below) 1.Anita AgnihotriIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI2.Anand ArniRAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI3.Aruna BagcheeIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines, GoI4.Sandeep BagcheeIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra5.G. BalachandhranIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal6.Vappala BalachandranIPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI7.Gopalan BalagopalIAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal8.Chandrashekar BalakrishnanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Coal, GoI9.Sushant BaligaEngineering Services (Retd.)Former Additional Director General, Central PWD, GoI10.Rana BanerjiRAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI11.Sharad BeharIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh12.Aurobindo BeheraIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha13.Madhu BhaduriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Portugal14.K.V. BhagirathIFS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, Indian Ocean Rim Association, Mauritius15.Pradip BhattacharyaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Planning and Administrative Training Institute, Govt. of West Bengal16.Nutan Guha BiswasIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Police Complaints Authority, Govt. of NCT of Delhi17.Meeran C BorwankarIPS (Retd.)Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI18.Ravi BudhirajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI19.Sundar BurraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra20.R. ChandramohanIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi21.Rachel ChatterjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh22.Kalyani ChaudhuriIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal23.Purnima ChauhanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Administrative Reforms, Youth Services & Sports and Fisheries, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh24.Gurjit Singh CheemaIAS (Retd.)Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab25.F.T.R. ColasoIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir26.Anna DaniIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra27.Vibha Puri DasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI28.P.R. DasguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI29.Pradeep K. DebIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI30.Nitin Desai Former Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI31.M.G. DevasahayamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana32.Kiran DhingraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI33.Sushil DubeyIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Sweden34.A.S. DulatIPS (Retd.)Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI35.Suresh K. GoelIFS (Retd.)Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI36.S.K. GuhaIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI37.H.S. GujralIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab38.Meena GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI39.Ravi Vira GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India40.Wajahat HabibullahIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information Commissioner41.Deepa HariIRS (Resigned) 42.Vivek HarinarainIAS (Retd.)Govt. of Tamil Nadu43.Sajjad HassanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Manipur44.Siraj HussainIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Agriculture, GoI45.Kamal JaswalIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI46.Naini JeyaseelanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI47.Najeeb JungIAS (Retd.)Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi48.Sanjay KaulIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka49.Vinod C. KhannaIFS (Retd.)Former Additional Secretary, MEA, GoI50.Gita KripalaniIRS (Retd.)Former Member, Settlement Commission, GoI51.Ish KumarIPS (Retd.)Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission52.Sudhir KumarIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal53.Harsh ManderIAS (Retd.)Govt. of Madhya Pradesh54.Amitabh MathurIPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI55.Lalit MathurIAS (Retd.)Former Director General, National Institute of Rural Development, GoI56.Aditi MehtaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan57.Sonalini MirchandaniIFS (Resigned)GoI58.Malay MishraIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Hungary59.Satya Narayan MohantyIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission60.Sudhansu MohantyIDAS (Retd.)Former Financial Adviser (Defence Services), Ministry of Defence, GoI61.Anup MukerjiIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Bihar62.Deb MukharjiIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal63.Shiv Shankar MukherjeeIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom64.Gautam MukhopadhayaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Myanmar65.B.M. NantaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh66.Ramesh NarayanaswamiIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi67.Surendra NathIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Finance Commission, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh68.P. Joy OommenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh69.Amitabha PandeIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI70.Maxwell PereiraIPS (Retd.)Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi71.Alok PertiIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI72.R. PoornalingamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI73.Rajesh PrasadIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to the Netherlands74.R.M. PremkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra75.Rajdeep PuriIRS (Resigned)Former Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, GoI76.N.K. RaghupathyIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI77.V.P. RajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission78.V. Ramani IAS (Retd.)Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra79.M. RameshkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal80.K. Sujatha RaoIAS (Retd.)Former Health Secretary, GoI81.M.Y. RaoIAS (Retd.) 82.Vijaya Latha ReddyIFS (Retd.)Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI83.Julio RibeiroIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Punjab84.Manabendra N. RoyIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal85.Aruna RoyIAS (Resigned) 86.Deepak SananIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh87.S. SatyabhamaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI88.N.C. SaxenaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI89.Ardhendu SenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal90.Abhijit SenguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI91.Aftab SethIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Japan92.Ashok Kumar SharmaIFoS (Retd.)Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat93.Ashok Kumar SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia94.Navrekha SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Indonesia95.Pravesh SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh96.Raju SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh97.Rashmi Shukla SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh98.Avay ShuklaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary (Forests & Technical Education), Govt. of Himachal Pradesh99.Mukteshwar SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission100.Satyavir SinghIRS (Retd.)Former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, GoI101.Sujatha SinghIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary, GoI102.Tara Ajai SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka103.Tirlochan SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI104.Prakriti SrivastavaIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Special Officer, Rebuild Kerala Development Programme, Govt. of Kerala105.Anup ThakurIAS (Retd.)Former Member, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission106.P.S.S. ThomasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission107.Geetha ThoopalIRAS (Retd.)Former General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata108.Ashok VajpeyiIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi109.Rudi WarjriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica
