P Chidambaram’s 2024 Lok Sabha Election Big Promise: Legislation to Implement ‘Bail Is Rule’ Principle

At a press conference, Mr. Chidambaram announced the intention to introduce a law stating “Bail is the rule, jail is the exception.” He highlighted that this principle is often overlooked in the lower judiciary, and emphasized the need for accessible pathways to bail for undertrials. He also mentioned plans to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and three criminal laws brought by the BJP government if the INDIA bloc comes to power.

Mr. Chidambaram dismissed allegations that Congress leaders were silent on CAA, citing instances where party members had spoken out against it. However, he faced criticism from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who accused Congress and Rahul Gandhi of being silent on CAA and accused the Kerala unit of Congress of withdrawing from opposition to CAA on the direction of the national leadership. The Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha election vows to review and amend all anti-people laws passed by the BJP/NDA, especially those related to workers, farmers, criminal justice, environment and forests, and digital data protection.

The CAA grants citizenship to undocumented migrants from six non-Muslim communities in neighboring countries if they entered India on or before December 31, 2014, reducing the period to qualify for citizenship from 11 years to five years.