UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — PROVISIONS UNDER BNS

Q1. With reference to the structural features of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 as compared with the Indian Penal Code, 1860, consider the following statements. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. The BNS comprises 358 sections, fewer than the 511 sections of the IPC.
  2. The BNS introduces community service as one of the prescribed forms of punishment.
  3. The BNS expanded the total number of sections compared with the IPC.
  4. The BNS retains 'sedition' as a distinctly named offence carried over unchanged from the IPC.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 3 and 4 only
  • C. 1 and 4 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q2. Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which one of the following categories of offences has, for the first time, been accorded foremost precedence by being grouped under a dedicated early chapter (Chapter V)?

  • A. Offences against the State
  • B. Offences against woman and child
  • C. Offences against property
  • D. Offences affecting public tranquillity

Q3. With reference to the forms of punishment under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 compared with the Indian Penal Code, 1860, consider the following statements. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Community service is a newly introduced form of punishment under the BNS that did not exist as a punishment under the IPC.
  2. Forfeiture of property is retained as one of the punishments enumerated under Section 4 of the BNS.
  3. The death penalty has been abolished as a form of punishment under the BNS.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q4. How many distinct forms (kinds) of punishment are enumerated under Section 4 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023?

  • A. Four
  • B. Five
  • C. Six
  • D. Seven

Q5. Which one of the following provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 defines a 'terrorist act' within the general (ordinary) penal code of India for the first time?

  • A. Section 103
  • B. Section 111
  • C. Section 113
  • D. Section 152

Q6. Under Section 103(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, what is the minimum number of persons acting in concert required for an act of murder to constitute the offence of mob lynching?

  • A. Three or more
  • B. Five or more
  • C. Seven or more
  • D. Ten or more

Q7. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 replaces which one of the following older laws?

  • A. The Indian Penal Code, 1860
  • B. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
  • C. The Indian Evidence Act, 1872
  • D. The Police Act, 1861

Q8. How many older colonial-era statutes were replaced by the new set of criminal laws that came into force on 1 July 2024?

  • A. Two
  • B. Three
  • C. Four
  • D. Five

Q9. Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 specifically deals with which one of the following offences?

  • A. Human trafficking
  • B. Mob lynching
  • C. Organised crime
  • D. Sexual harassment at the workplace

Q10. In which year was the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 notified in the Gazette of India?

  • A. 2020
  • B. 2022
  • C. 2023
  • D. 2024

Q11. Which one of the following was the sole provision of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 that was NOT brought into force when the law commenced on 1 July 2024?

  • A. Sub-section (2) of Section 106
  • B. Section 103(2) on mob lynching
  • C. Section 111 on organised crime
  • D. Section 152 on acts endangering sovereignty

Q12. The First Law Commission (constituted in 1834), whose work formed the basis of the Indian Penal Code that the BNS now replaces, was presided over by whom?

  • A. Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay
  • B. Sir William Jones
  • C. Warren Hastings
  • D. Lord Cornwallis