Chennai: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking to declare the 'Hindi' names of the three new criminal laws, which came into effect on July 1, unconstitutional. 

According to a report published in Live Law, the petitioner, advocate B. Ramkumar Adityan, has demanded that English nomenclature be adopted for the new criminal laws. The petitioner has also sought an injunction restraining the Union Home Ministry from implementing the laws until his plea for renaming them in English is disposed of.

The petitioner argued that while there are 28 states and eight Union Territories in India, only nine states and two Union Territories have Hindi as the official language. He also pointed out that according to Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Official Language Act 1956, Tamil and English are the official languages in Tamil Nadu. Therefore, introducing new Hindi names would contradict the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Official Language Act.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu police have registered FIRs under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which has replaced the Indian Penal Code.

Under the new law, FIRs have been registered for a number of offences, including assault, causing harm, and so on, in several parts of the state.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK's legal wing announced a hunger strike here on July 6 to oppose the new criminal laws. On July 5, protests will be held in front of district courts. Also, seminars will be conducted across the state on the flaws of the new laws.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami denounced christening new laws in 'Sanskrit mixed Hindi' and said it is blatant 'imposition of Hindi,' which goes against constitutional values.

The three new criminal laws—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam—seek to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively.

Chief Minister M. K. Stalin said on June 28, 2024, that in order to ensure proper enforcement of the new criminal laws in the state from July 1, expeditious training was provided to judicial and police personnel.

During its enactment itself, the DMK staunchly opposed these new laws in Parliament.