By: Team CVoter
Confidence in the newly implemented crimial laws varies with partisan support. When asked if ordinary citizens will have a better access to justice - an overwhelming 65% of the NDA voting respondents said yes, but the share of INDI alliance voters believing the same was only 39.3%.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita - which replaces the Indian Penal Code entirely has become effective from the 1st of July 2024. While the first few arrests under the new system has fetched tremendous headlines - data shows that compared to NDA voters- the ones voting for the INDI Alliance parties have a net negative outlook - even though they agree that the Police system in India awaits reforms.
According to a poll conducted over 1,095 respondents in India - the opinion of the INDI Alliance voters on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita is negative on average.
The survey conducted via Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviews (CATI) from 27-28 June, revealed the opposition voters are less likely to believe whether the new laws would tackle crimes efficiently, would bring judicial reforms, or if they would get better access to justice.
When asked - ‘Do you think crimes will be tackled more effectively?’ The overall response of all the respondents was positive 57.4% agreed. There were 73% NDA voters who responded in a ‘yes’ to this question, but there were only 41.5% INDI Alliance voters who believed so. Of the latter, there were 44% respondents who said no - (Crimes won’t be tackled more effectively). The share of NDA voters sharing this view was only 14.8%. The remaining (14.5% INDI, 12.5% NDA) had no say.
Similarly, when asked if ordinary citizens will have a better access to justice - an overwhelming 65% of the NDA voting respondents said yes, but the share of INDI alliance voters believing the same was only 39.3%. In fact, 48.4% INDI Alliance respondents negated the statement against 16.5% NDA voters. About 12.3% INDI and 17.6% NDA voters had no say.
The INDI voting respondents also said that - Judicial reforms, something that India has been awaiting for a long time - would not be solved with the new penal code. When asked - “do you think the new laws will lead to judicial reforms?” - nearly 48.5% INDI Alliance supporting respondents gave a negative response, compared to only 14.2% NDA supporters believing the same.
In fact, 70% of the NDA supporters said that the new laws will lead to judicial reforms, while 48.5% respondents of the INDI alliance believed the same. Remaining 10.9% INDI Alliance voters and 15.8% NDA alliance supporters had no say or didn’t know about this.