It has been stated by the Union Government of India that amendments in IPC and CrPC are under consideration.
This statement was given while hearing a plea in a case which puts forward the discriminatory Section 64 which sets out that female family members are incapable to accept summons on behalf of the person summoned. The petitioners also declared that such a provision violates Article 14 i.e., the right to equality, the right to privacy under Article 19 and the right to a speedy trial. Moreover, this provision does not give any significance to a situation where a person may be residing only with female members or a person available at the time of service is female and none other.
Section 64 in the Criminal Procedure Code mentions about “Service when persons summoned cannot be found.”: Where the person summoned cannot, by the exercise of due diligence, be found, the summons may be served by leaving one of the duplicates for him with some adult male member of his family residing with him, and the person with whom the summons is so left shall, if so, required by the serving officer, sign a receipt therefor on the back of the other duplicate.
Explanation. – A servant is not a member of the family within the meaning of this section.
Criminal laws are under active consideration for amendment. The government is looking to amend even the sedition laws along with Indian Penal Code (IPC) and CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code), said the Attorney General for India, R Venkatramani.
This all was dealt with in a case titled “Kush Kalra v. UoI and Anr. WP(C) No. 958/2022” by a bench comprising honourable Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud as well as Justice JB Pardiwala. The matter is now listed to be dealt with in July 2023.
In March 2020, a Criminal Law Reforms Committee was constituted by the Central Government to suggest revising IPC, CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act 1872 and in February 2022, a report was submitted by the Committee after actively seeking suggestions from the public. In April 2022, Rajya Sabha was informed by the Law Ministry that the Government was in process of reviewing the criminal laws. Amit Shah, Union Home Minister in October 2022 informed that he was personally looking into the matter. Yet, no bill was proposed by the Union Government regarding the matter in question in any of the Winter or Budget Sessions of Parliament held afterwards.
Written by Sonakshi Misra, 2nd year (4th semester) B.A.LL.B. Hons. student at Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Legal Studies, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur.
