Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023

Also called: BNSS · Topic: Justice Delivery: Subordinate Courts, Tribunals, Legal Aid and Judicial Reforms · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 is the law that sets out the steps of criminal procedure in India, from reporting a crime through arrest, investigation and bail to trial and judgment. It replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 and came into force on 1 July 2024 [3][4].

It matters because it decides how fast and how fairly a criminal case moves. It adds zero FIR, e-FIR, fixed deadlines, compulsory forensics and electronic trials. It also gives the police wider custody powers, which is why the code is debated.

Explanation

Where the BNSS fits among the three new laws

• In 2023 India replaced three colonial-era codes with three new laws:

Old law	New law (2023)	What it covers	Sections
IPC 1860	Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)	What counts as a crime, and its punishment	358 (IPC: 511)
CrPC 1973	BNSS	Procedure: FIR, arrest, investigation, bail, trial	531
Evidence Act 1872	Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA)	What proof a court can accept	170

• Substantive law vs procedural law:
• The BNS is substantive law. It says what a crime is.

• The BNSS is procedural law. It says how the State investigates and tries that crime.

• Transition rule: offences committed before 1 July 2024 are still tried under the old CrPC.

How a case moves under the BNSS: steps and time limits

1. Reporting the crime - Zero FIR: an FIR (First Information Report, the first written police record of a crime) can be filed at any police station, whatever the area where the crime happened. The case is then sent to the right station [3]. - e-FIR: a crime can be reported by electronic communication, without going to a police station [3].

2. Medical examination of a rape victim - The doctor must send the report to the police within 7 days [1].

3. Investigation - Compulsory forensics (s.176(3)): for offences punishable with 7 years or more, forensic experts must visit the crime scene, collect evidence and record the process [1]. - Video recording of search and seizure (s.105): the police must make an audio-video record when they search a place or seize items. - Samples without arrest: finger impressions and voice samples can be taken even from a person who has not been arrested [1]. - Attachment of proceeds of crime (s.107): the police can ask the court to attach (freeze) property gained from a crime, so it cannot be sold or moved. - Victim updates: the victim must be told how the investigation is going within 90 days [1][3].

4. Framing of charges - A sessions court must frame charges (formally state the offences the accused will be tried for) within 60 days of the first hearing on charges [1].

5. Trial - All trials, inquiries and proceedings may be held in electronic mode. Summons can be sent electronically [1]. - Trial in absentia (s.356): a trial held while the accused is absent.

   • It applies to a proclaimed offender, meaning a person who runs away after the court publicly orders them to appear.
   • The trial can go ahead 90 days after charges are framed.

6. Judgment - It must come within 30 days of the end of arguments. This can be extended to 45 days. (The first Bill of August 2023 allowed up to 60 days [1].)

Protections and new institutions

• Vulnerable people need not go to the police station for questioning. This covers women, persons below 15, persons above 60, and persons with a disability or a serious illness [3].
• Directorate of Prosecution (s.20):
• A public prosecutor is the government's lawyer who argues criminal cases for the State.
• Every state must set up a Directorate of Prosecution, with offices in the districts.

• The aim is to make prosecutors more independent of the police.

• Witness protection (s.398): every state must notify a witness protection scheme.

Limits and weak points

• Wider police-custody window:
• The police can still get up to 15 days of police custody, but now in parts spread over the first 40 or 60 days of detention. Earlier this had to fall within the first 15 days [1].

• So an accused may be refused bail while the police still have custody days left to use [1].

• No bail reform: the bail relief for first-time under-trials (people held in jail while their trial is still going on) does not apply to anyone facing multiple charges [1].

• Handcuffing allowed (s.43(3)) at arrest in some cases, such as for repeat or serious offenders.
• Capacity gap: there are not enough forensic labs, trained experts or prosecutors to meet the compulsory-forensics rule and the new deadlines.

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitutional base:
• Criminal procedure is in the Concurrent List (List III, Seventh Schedule), so both Parliament and the states can make laws on it.

• The BNSS has to respect Article 21 (no one can lose life or personal liberty except by a fair procedure set by law) and Article 22 (protection against arbitrary arrest and detention).

• Reform reports behind it:

• Malimath Committee (2003): asked for victim-centred justice, better forensics and a separate prosecution wing. The BNSS takes up the forensics and prosecution ideas. It does not take up the committee's proposal for a lower standard of proof.
• Madhava Menon Committee (2007): drafted a national criminal justice policy.

• Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws (2020): set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

• How it was passed: 1. 11 August 2023: introduced in the Lok Sabha [1]. 2. Sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, a small group of MPs that studies a Bill in detail. 3. The first Bills were withdrawn. Revised "(Second)" Bills were introduced on 12 December 2023 [2]. 4. Passed by the Lok Sabha on 20 December and the Rajya Sabha on 21 December 2023 [2]. 5. Presidential assent: 25 December 2023 [3][4]. 6. In force: 1 July 2024 [3][4].

• Key case: Mahender Chawla v. Union of India (2018). The Supreme Court approved the Witness Protection Scheme 2018 and made it binding until Parliament makes its own law. The scheme has four parts:

• threat categories (how serious the danger to the witness is);
• hiding the witness's identity;
• moving the witness to a safe place;
• a Witness Protection Fund.

• BNSS s.398 builds on this scheme.

• Putting it into practice:

• Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS): one digital platform that links five pillars: police (CCTNS), courts (e-Courts), prisons (e-Prisons), forensic labs (e-Forensics) and prosecution (e-Prosecution).
• Apps: e-Sakshya (to record evidence at the crime scene), Nyay Shruti (video hearings), Nyay Setu (sharing case information), the e-Summon portal and e-Vaarta [3].
• Training: about 11.35 lakh officers had been trained by late 2024 [3][4].

• Launch day: on 1 July 2024, every police station held an awareness programme and gave out a bilingual booklet [3].

• Language debate (Article 348): the authoritative text of Acts of Parliament is in English unless Parliament provides otherwise. Critics, especially in non-Hindi states, objected to Hindi names for central laws.

Don't confuse with

• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS): the BNS replaced the IPC and lists crimes and punishments, such as mob lynching (s.103(2)) and organised crime (s.111). The BNSS replaced the CrPC and sets out the procedure, such as FIRs, arrest, bail and trial.
• Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA): the BSA replaced the Evidence Act. It decides what counts as proof, for example electronic records as primary evidence. The BNSS decides how evidence is collected, for example compulsory forensics and video-recorded searches.
• Zero FIR vs e-FIR: a zero FIR is about place: it can be filed at any police station, whatever the area of the crime. An e-FIR is about mode: it is filed electronically, without going to a police station [3].
• CrPC 1898 vs CrPC 1973: the CrPC was first made in 1898 and made again in 1973. The BNSS replaced the 1973 Code.

Prelims Hooks

• The BNSS replaced the CrPC 1973 and has 531 sections. Assent came on 25 December 2023, and it came into force on 1 July 2024 [3][4].
• s.176(3): forensic examination is compulsory for offences punishable with 7 years or more [1]. s.105: audio-video recording of search and seizure.
• s.356: trial in absentia of a proclaimed offender, 90 days after charges are framed.
• Deadlines: judgment within 30 days of arguments ending, extendable to 45. Charges framed within 60 days [1]. Victim updated within 90 days [1][3]. Rape medical report sent within 7 days [1].
• s.20: a Directorate of Prosecution in every state. s.398: every state must notify a witness protection scheme, building on the 2018 scheme approved in Mahender Chawla (2018).
• Trap: police custody of up to 15 days can now be taken in parts within the first 40 or 60 days, not only within the first 15 days [1]. Fingerprints and voice samples can be taken without arrest [1].

Mains Points

• Speed and victims vs liberty:
• Zero FIR, e-FIR, victim updates, witness protection and fixed deadlines make the process faster and more victim-centred.
• But the custody window spread over 40 or 60 days, handcuffing (s.43(3)) and samples taken without arrest strengthen the police [1].

• There is no real bail reform, so under-trials still crowd the prisons [1]. These provisions have to be tested against Articles 21 and 22.

• Capacity decides success:

• Compulsory forensics, judgments in 30 to 45 days and e-trials need forensic labs, prosecutors, judges and digital systems (ICJS, e-Sakshya).
• Without them, the deadlines may stay on paper.

• Real reform also needs police reform (Prakash Singh, 2006), filling vacancies in subordinate courts (Arts. 233-237) and stronger legal aid (Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987).

• Decolonisation or relabelling?

• Supporters point to technology, deadlines and an independent Directorate of Prosecution (s.20), as the Malimath Committee had asked.
• Critics say much of the CrPC text is kept, only with new section numbers. This makes old case law harder to use and raises the question of whether a whole new code was needed [2].

Related concepts

• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023
• Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023
• Malimath Committee
• Mob lynching
• Community service
• Trial in absentia
• Witness Protection Scheme 2018
• Public prosecutor
• Inter-operable Criminal Justice System

Read more

• Criminal justice III: the new criminal laws of 2023