Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) and former Kerala Governor P Sathasivam has urged the Central government to retain the English names for the three new criminal laws – the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.

The new laws are set to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act and will come into effect on July 1.

The former CJI said that he was going to send an official communication to the Union government, the Law Minister and the Law Secretary asking them to retain the existing English nomenclatures of the criminal laws in the country, considering that Article 348 of the Indian Constitution too mandate that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court shall be in English.

The former CJI was speaking at a private event organised by the Vellore Institute of Technology’s School of Law in Chennai.

In his address, Justice Sathasivam said that the three new laws are meant to overhaul the criminal justice system in the country and make the system more citizen friendly.

The changes are much needed, especially considering that the IPC, the CrPC and the Evidence Act were all framed by the British in the 1800s, he said.

“These laws were formulated by the British in the 1860s and 1870s. Why I mention this is because people are criticizing the move, questioning the need to bring in the new laws. The only problem is that I cannot comfortably pronounce these names. As the former CJI, I am going to even make a request to the Law Minister concerned, to the law secretary and the government. I am going to point out there is a provision in the Constitution under Article 348 for keeping everything in the English language,” he said.