The Union Cabinet has given the go-ahead to Home Minister Amit Shah to introduce the criminal law amendment bills, which are set to replace old pre-colonial criminal laws, people familiar with the matter said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his office have disagreed with two suggestions made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Home Affairs as they would have far-reaching consequences and would have been seen as against the Supreme Court and its judgments, sources said.

One is on the offence of adultery, and the other is criminalising of homosexual sex.

The committee had recommended that the offence of adultery be retained in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023. The Supreme Court had, however, struck down this offence in 2018, saying it discriminated against women, perpetuated gender stereotypes, and diminished the dignity of women.

Another recommendation of the standing committee was to penalise non-consensual acts under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Even though the Supreme Court has struck down the criminalising of homosexual sex between consensual adults, they have asked for this provision to be retained in the new bill, saying no provision for non-consensual sexual offence against male, female, transgender and for bestiality has been made.

The Prime Minister, his office (PMO) and the cabinet have agreed with not accepting this recommendation, and so the Supreme Court judgment on Section 377 of the IPC has been removed.

On the offence of adultery, the Supreme Court had held that a wife was treated like the property of the husband by only penalising the man in disregard to the autonomy of the woman.

The parliamentary committee, however, is of the view that the institution of marriage is considered sacred and needs to be safeguarded in Indian society and made gender-neutral. The PMO, Prime Minister and the cabinet have agreed with the decision not to accept this recommendation, sources said.

There have been some changes to the definition of organised crime and terrorism to make it in line with the 21st century.

All the three bills are expected to be taken up for consideration and passing on Wednesday and early next week in the Rajya Sabha, paving the way for new criminal law bills even though there is a still a lot of controversy over the names of the bill.

A “miscommunication” between the alleged shooters of Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi and their handlers over the escape plan from Rajasthan’s Jaipur after the killing led to their arrest, according to Delhi Police officials.

Shooters Rohit Rathore and Nitin Fauji were supposed to get out of Jaipur immediately by boarding a truck after killing Gogamedi on December 5, they said.

However, they could not because of a “miscommunication” between them and their handlers over the vehicle’s location, forcing the accused to come up with an alternative escape plan that involved using several vehicles and hiding at different locations, the officials said.

Rathore and Nitin Fauji were arrested in a joint operation of the Delhi Police Crime Branch and the Rajasthan Police from a hotel in Chandigarh, five days after the incident.

Talking to PTI, an official, aware of the developments in the investigation, said that according to a plan, “the duo were supposed to board a truck arranged by their handlers soon after killing Gogamedi”.

The truck would have taken Rathore and Nitin Fauji to “somewhere out of Jaipur but they could not find the vehicle”, the official said and added that when they again contacted their handlers, they were told that they were at a location far away from the truck. The official said Rathore and Nitin Fauji, then, stole a scooter to move and hid in a farm near the Jaipur-Ajmer bypass for at least an hour, waiting for a message from their handlers. They were in contact with their handlers on the Signal app, the official said on the condition of anonymity.

“While at the field, they met with farmers, whom they told that they were students and had lost their way,” the official said. When they did not get any reply from their handlers, they made their own plan and hired a taxi for Didwana and further took a bus, a train and another taxi to move to Hisar, then Manali and finally reach Chandigarh, the official added. The officials said the attackers were in contact with Virender Charan, who provided them arms through couriers on the direction of Rohit Godara, a close associate of the Lawrence-Goldy Brar criminal gang. Charan and Godara, both are suspected to be hiding in European countries, sources said. Godara was the one who claimed responsibility for Gogamedi’s killing in a Facebook post, saying the Karni Sena chief was backing his enemies.

The officials said Rathore and Nitin Fauji were promised passports and visas within 20 days of the incident to flee the country, but till then they had to remain in hiding. Godara, a former LLB student who was earlier arrested in a case of rape in Rajasthan, believed that he went to jail because of Gogamedi. Nitin Fauji, who quit the Indian Army after he was named in a kidnapping case in Haryana, wanted to settle abroad, the officials said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Outgoing Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan congratulated his successor “hardworking friend” Mohan Yadav who was named by the BJP today, ending days of suspense after the party swept the Hindi heartland state.

In a Hindi post on X, Mr Chouhan – whose welfare schemes helped his party tap the women votes – expressed confidence in Mr Yadav to “create new records in the field of public welfare” under the “guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

कर्मठ साथी श्री @DrMohanYadav51 जी को भाजपा विधायक दल की बैठक में मध्यप्रदेश का मुख्यमंत्री मनोनीत किये जाने पर हार्दिक बधाई।

मुझे विश्‍वास है कि आदरणीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के कुशल मार्गदर्शन में आप मध्यप्रदेश को प्रगति एवं विकास की नई ऊँचाइयों पर ले जायेंगे तथा… pic.twitter.com/NkVo2PrV9x

— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) December 11, 2023

Mohan Yadav, who was a cabinet minister in the Madhya Pradesh Government headed by Mr Chouhan, was picked for the top job at a key meeting in Bhopal.

“I am a small worker of the party. I thank all of you, the state leadership and the central leadership. With your love and support, I will try to fulfil my responsibilities,” the Ujjain South MLA said.

Mr Yadav will have two deputies – Jagdisgh Devda and Rajesh Shukla.

The BJP – which had been battling close to 20 years of incumbency in the state – won a resounding mandate bagging 163 seats while the Congress finished a distant second at 66 seats.

Mr Chouhan’s ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme was considered a coup de maitre tilted voters in the BJP’s favour.

The BJP on Thursday announced three central observers – Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, K Laxman, National President, OBC Morcha and Aasha Lakda, National Secretary for the state – to pick the next Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

The party made central observers last time in the state in 2005 when former Chief Minister Babu Lal Gaur left the post. After that, Shivraj Singh Chouhan took the oath for the first time as Chief Minister of the state in November 2005.

Since then, no central observers have been appointed in the state. During the state assembly polls in 2008 and 2013, BJP remained in power and Chouhan continued to be the Chief Minister.

During the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress returned to power with veteran leader Kamal Nath taking the oath as the chief minister but a political upheaval rocked the state in 2020 after then Congressman Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 22 loyalist MLAs, switched over to the BJP camp.

The Congress government fell after being reduced to a minority and the BJP formed the government, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan returning as chief minister.

But this time around, the party announced central observers for the state, sparking buzz that the BJP may bring a new Chief Minister face in the state.