TN Government Appoints One Man Commission To Suggest Amendments To New Criminal Laws At State Level

The Tamil Nadu Government has constituted a one-man commission headed by Justice (Retd) M Sathyanarayanan to look into possible amendments to the new criminal laws at the state level. The committee will scrutinize the new laws, hold consultations with all stakeholders including state-level lawyer's associations, and submit its report to the Government within a month on the possible amendments.

The press release issued by the Tamil Nadu Department of Information and Public Relations (TNDIPR) on 8th July 2024, states that the new criminal laws were hastily implemented amidst ongoing protests and were introduced without any formal debates in the Parliament and without hearing the views of the State governments. It added that the new laws did not reflect the sentiments of the people as they were introduced without any debates and after suspending 146 members of the parliament. 

It further said that reflecting the opinion of the majority across the country, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin had written to Home Minister Amit Shah pointing out that some of the sections in the new laws were flawed and enacted without considering the State's views and requesting that the Union Government postpone the implementation of the new laws and take a decision only after duly obtaining the views of all state governments. 

In this backdrop, CM Stalin also held a consultation meeting at the Secretariat on 8th July 2024 on what amendments could be made to the new criminal laws. This meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary, General Secretary, Legal Secretary, Director General of Police, and the State Public Prosecutor. Following this meeting, a decision was made to appoint a one-man commission headed by Justice (Retd) Sathyanarayanan.