11/03/2024
Saturday, 09 March, 2024,Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi successfully organised a Roundtable Conference on “NAVIGATING THE COMPLEXITIES IN THE CRIMINAL LAW ADMINISTRATION IN ADAPTING TO THE DYNAMICS OF THE NEW CRIMINAL AND DATA PROTECTION LAWS”.
The Programme was graced by galaxy of intellectuals viz- Prof. (Dr.) Kahkashan Y. Danyal, Dean, Faculty of Law, JMI, Mr. Om Prakash Vyas, former Joint Registrar (Law), NHRC, Prof. Upma Gautam USLLS, Guru Govind Singh IP University, Prof. P. Puneeth, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, JNU, Mr. Sanjay Vashishtha, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Mr. Syed Mohd. Haroon, Software Freedom Law Centre.
The Round Conference was convened by Prof. (Dr.) Kahkashan Y. Danyal, Dean, Faculty of Law, JMI. The Organizing Committee Members were Prof. Faizanur Rahman, Dr. Subhradipta Sarkar, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, JMI and Dr. Alisha Khatun, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, JMI.
The Discussion started with the question whether the three new Criminal laws namely, the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023, the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam , 2023 was needed or could it be done through Amendments only? To which the Panelist answered that old framework had implementation problems and was not properly phased. The new laws have totally got rid of colonial existence and is better phased.
Then, further discussion was on the concept of incorporation of Plea Bargaining, Zero FIR, Summary Trial. One of the Panelist, Mr Om Prakash Vyas discuss about the unregulated power of police, conundrum of Rule of law versus Due process of law and also need of upgradation of the infrastructure to adapt to the changes. Another panelist, Prof. Umpa Gautam talks about the dynamic nature of the concept of Crime and lack of uniformity. Prof Gautam also emphasised upon defining crime in two approaches 1. Consensus approach, 2. Conflict approach. She urged the objective for the criminal justice machinery is to maintain status quo between the have and have nots.
Prof. Puneeth discussed the danger of surveillance by the State, contradiction between the pre-existing criminal laws and the Constitutional framework, shifting the focus from punishment to justice and incorporation of technological advancements. Another panelist of the Conference, Mr. Sanjay Vashishtha emphasised upon preparedness of the law enforcement agencies, digital and electronic data challenges in day-to-day functioning of the judiciary, dubjectivity of victim experience, need for multidisciplinary dialogue between the judiciary and police. Mr. Syed. Mohd. Haroon one of the Panelist discussed about the various aspects of Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the concept of Data theft and the significance of Metadata for providing legitimacy to the actual data.
The Roundtable Conference was a much-needed exercise to create awareness, critical analysis and debate over the provisions of the new criminal laws and was followed by Question-Answer session. The audience put forth various questions on the subject and the same were responded to comprehensively by the speakers to the satisfaction of the audience.
Before the formal Vote of thanks, Prof. (Dr.) Asad Malik gave his valuable inputs and summarized the session in a very precise manner. The conference came to an end with the singing of National Anthem followed by a formal vote of thanks
