Penal Code (Amendment) Bill and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill not to be taken up on 8 Jan.

The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill will not be moved for debate on January 8, Leader of the House Minister Lakshman Kiriella said in Parliament today.

DEC 17 2015

He added Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed him that the said two bills would not be taken up in Parliament on January 8 as previously scheduled.

The minister made this observation in response to a point of order raised by UPFA MP Dinesh Gunawardena.

MP Gunawardena asked the Government whether the two bills would be withdrawn. “There is marked opposition to these bills. About 22 civil organizations and almost all the MPs in the Opposition have demanded the Government to withdraw them” he said.

Minister Kiriella said a decision whether they would be withdrawn or not would be taken later.

Chief Government Whip and Minister Gayantha Karunathilake presented the two bills in Parliament on December 11. The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill seeks to insert a new section 291c in the Chapter 19 of the Act, as “Whoever, by the use of words spoken, written or intended to be read, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, intends to cause or attempts to instigate acts of violence, or to create religious, racial or communal disharmony, or feelings of ill-will or hostility, between communities or different classes of persons or different racial or religious groups, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years”.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill seeks to amend section 135 of the Act No, 15 of 1979 by including section 291c of the Penal Code in paragraph (e) of subsection 1, and the legal effect of the section as amended is to make the Attorney General’s sanction a pre-requisite to take cognizance of an offense punishable under section 291c.