Thread by @manekakhanna

My experience of engaging with @criminalreforms - a thread
Although I was struggling with heavy work load in the middle of a pandemic I took out time to fill up the questionnaire put by this unrepresentative committee. As a criminal lawyer, I knew the stakes involved. 1/n

A couple of hours in I realized that I was completely unprepared to fill in any of the answers, as each question would require weeks of research for me to decide what position to take. Bear in mind, just the first questionairre had about 45 questions 2/n

For eg, the first form had Qs on the system of punishments, the death penalty, strict liability offences, age of criminal responsibility, law on sedition, criminalization of honour killing, mob lynching, legalization of euthanasia, re-classification/redefining sexual offences 3/n

These were just SOME questions on the IPC, as all criminal lawyers will tell you, the issues of criminal procedure and evidence are even more critical, if that’s possible. 4/n

I’ve been litigating for 5 years, out of which I’ve been practicing only criminal law for the last 3. I studied at an ‘elite’ law school, am fluent in English, passionate about criminal justice and was better placed than most to engage with this farcical consultation. 5/n

Let there be no doubt, this criminal law reform can restructure law and society as we know it – and every citizen is a stakeholder. Therefore #DisbandtheCommittee #notthisway @citizensspeakup