Agartala, June 29 (IANS): Even as the Tripura government along with the other states of the country gears up for the three new criminal laws coming into force from July 1, the All India Lawyers Union (AILU), a Left-backed lawyers' body, held a protest against the new laws here on Saturday.

The new criminal laws, Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively, from July 1.

AILU’s Tripura unit secretary Haribal Debnath said that Saturday’s protest was part of a nationwide agitation against the new laws.

The three new criminal laws were passed in the Parliament in December last year after suspending a large number of MPs from the House, who, Debnath said, wanted to discuss and register their opposition to the new laws.

Terming them as ‘draconian laws’, Debnath said, “The three new laws are undemocratic and anti-people. They will alter the basic structure of the legal system in the country, which says anyone is innocent until proven guilty. The AILU was fighting against the laws even before they were passed in the Parliament. We want the three new criminal laws to be scrapped."

Meanwhile, Tripura Home Secretary Pradip Kumar Chakraborty said on Saturday that the new laws would speed up the judicial process and ensure quick justice for the victims.

“Over 3,000 officials from different departments have been given training on the applicability of the new laws in the state,” Chakraborty told the media.