The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday moved a resolution in the Bengal Assembly urging the Centre to review its three new laws and branding many provisions in the Acts as draconian.

The new lays are Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (BSA).

The resolution was moved by state law minister Moloy Ghatak, minister of state for finance (independent charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya, chief whip of the ruling party Nirmal Ghosh, and senior TMC MLA Ashoke Deb. The discussion on the resolution that began on Wednesday will continue on Thursday before it is adopted by the House.

Presenting the resolution under Rule 169 in the House, Ghatak said, “The contents of the said three Bills have been examined in details by the Government of West Bengal and several other juristic institutions and personalities in the State and it has been found that many of the Provisions in the said Bills are much more draconian and anti-people than the original provisions of the three older codes/acts.”

Alleging that the BJP government had suspended 147 MPs from Parliament and passed the bill in both the Houses in a hurry, the law minister said, “The Government of India has brought the aforesaid three legislations on the aforesaid matters without any consultation with the state governments."

“This House urges upon the Union government through the state government to review the laws in the right earnest to evolve consensus views of the jurists, social activists and citizens in the interest of good governance and to protect the principles of fundamental rights and natural justice,” he added.

The state is keen to determine if the new laws introduced by the Centre infringe upon its jurisdiction and powers as outlined in the Constitution's concurrent list. The Bengal government has already formed a seven-member committee to recommend, within three months, whether any state-specific changes are needed in the newly enacted criminal laws that replaced the British-era ones on July 1.

Responding to the resolution, BJP MLA Ambika Roy said, “On December 5, the same resolution was tabled in the Assembly and now again the same resolution is moved. There are 1056 sections in the three laws but the state government has not specified which particular sections this resolution opposes."