The National Council did not adopt the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill of Bhutan 2025 today. This means recommendations and the new sections made by the council’s Legislative Committee will not proceed further. The bill fell short of the required 13 votes from the members to be passed. Of the 23 members present, 11 voted in favour, three voted against, and nine abstained.
The Bill proposed tougher criminal penalties by upgrading several offences to felonies and introducing new offences for possession of unexplained wealth, mule account operations, as well as new sections on abortion and gang-related battery, among others. The bill may be reintroduced as a new Bill after a year.
The Legislative Committee introduced the Bill during this session.
