The winter session of Parliament, which came to an end on December 22, will perhaps go down in Indian history as one where the relationship between a ruling government and the Opposition reached its nadir. In the nearly three-week period, both houses passed 10 bills, including the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023; and Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita, which are set to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively. But it happened without any debate in Parliament as 143 of the total 316 opposition members—45 per cent—in both houses were suspended.
