Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023

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

Meaning

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 is India's new main law on crimes and their punishments. It replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 and came into force on 1 July 2024 [3][4].

It matters because it is one of the three new criminal laws that replaced India's colonial-era codes. It adds new crimes, changes how sedition is handled, and brings in community service as a punishment.

Explanation

How it came about and how it is built

• Why it was made: the IPC dated from 1860, under British rule. Several reform reports came before the new code:
• Malimath Committee (2003), on criminal justice reform.
• Madhava Menon Committee (2007), which drafted a national criminal justice policy.
• Justice Verma Committee (2013), set up after the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape.

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

• How it was passed (in order): 1. 11 August 2023: the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, along with the other two new codes [1]. 2. It was sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, a small group of MPs that studies a Bill in detail. 3. The first Bill was withdrawn. A revised "(Second)" Sanhita was introduced on 12 December 2023 [2]. 4. The Lok Sabha passed it on 20 December and the Rajya Sabha on 21 December 2023 [2]. 5. Presidential assent came on 25 December 2023 [3][4]. 6. It came into force on 1 July 2024 [3][4].

• Size: the BNS has 358 sections. The IPC had 511.

• New order of chapters: offences against women and children now come first. In the IPC, offences against the State came first.
• Transition rule: crimes committed before 1 July 2024 are still tried under the IPC.

New offences it adds

• Organised crime (s.111): serious crimes done for a crime gang (syndicate), such as kidnapping, extortion and contract killing [2].
• Petty organised crime (s.112): smaller gang crimes, such as organised theft and pick-pocketing [2].
• Terrorism (s.113): acts that threaten India's unity, integrity, security or economic security [2]. It overlaps with the UAPA, 1967.
• Mob lynching (s.103(2)):
• Murder by a group of five or more people acting together.
• It covers killings on grounds such as race, caste, community, sex, place of birth, language or personal belief.
• The punishment is death or life imprisonment.

• Causing grievous hurt (serious injury) on the same grounds is also an offence [2].

• Snatching (s.304): grabbing property such as a chain or a phone is now a separate crime.

• Sexual intercourse by deceitful means (s.69): this includes a false promise of marriage or a job.

Sedition, dropped offences and new punishments

• Sedition replaced by s.152:
• IPC s.124A (sedition) punished words that bring "hatred or contempt" against the government.
• BNS s.152 instead punishes acts that endanger the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, such as exciting secession, armed rebellion or subversive activities.

• Critics say it may keep sedition's problems under a new name [2].

• Offences dropped:

• Adultery, which the Supreme Court had struck down.

• IPC s.377, which the Supreme Court had read down. Dropping it fully also removed the protection against the rape of men and against bestiality. This leaves a gap in the law [2].

• Community service (s.4(f)):

• Unpaid work for the public, given as punishment for petty offences. It is a new kind of punishment in India.
• It applies to six petty offences. Examples are a first-time theft of property worth less than ₹5,000 when the property is returned or paid for (s.303(2)), drunken misconduct in public (s.355) and defamation (s.356).
• The BNS does not define "community service". The Standing Committee wanted a definition, but this was not adopted [2].

Limits and gaps

• Hit-and-run (s.106(2)):
• A driver who causes death and runs away without reporting it can get up to 10 years in prison.

• Truckers protested in January 2024, so this clause was kept on hold. It did not come into force on 1 July 2024 [3][4].

• Marital rape exception kept (Exception 2 to s.63): a man forcing sex on his adult wife is still not "rape" under the BNS. Challenges to this exception are pending in the Supreme Court.

• Justice Verma ideas not adopted: the BNS made rape neither gender-neutral nor a crime when done within marriage [2].
• Age of a child: different offences use different ages for child victims. This conflicts with the POCSO Act, 2012, which treats everyone below 18 as a child [2].

In the Constitution and practice

• Legal base: the BNS is an Act of Parliament (2023). It is one of three new codes:

Old law	New law (2023)	Sections
IPC 1860	Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS): crimes and punishments	358
CrPC 1973	Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS): procedure	531
Evidence Act 1872	Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA): evidence	170

• Article 348: this article says 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.
• Supreme Court cases behind the BNS:
• Tehseen Poonawalla v. Union of India (2018): the Court asked Parliament to make lynching a separate crime. The result is BNS s.103(2).
• S.G. Vombatkere v. Union of India (2022): the Court put IPC s.124A in abeyance. This means sedition was paused and no new cases could be filed under it.
• Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018): adultery was struck down, so the BNS leaves it out.

• Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018): s.377 was read down. The BNS drops the section fully.

• Law Commission's 279th Report, "Usage of the Law of Sedition" (2023): chaired by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, it had suggested keeping sedition with safeguards [5]. Parliament chose s.152 instead.

• In practice:
• On 1 July 2024, every police station held an awareness programme with a bilingual booklet on the new laws [3].
• About 11.35 lakh officers had been trained by late 2024 [3][4].
• Cases are tracked through the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS), one digital platform that links police (CCTNS), e-Courts, e-Prisons, e-Forensics and e-Prosecution.

Don't confuse with

• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS): the BNS says what is a crime and its punishment. The BNSS (which replaced the CrPC) sets out how a case runs: zero FIR, trial in absentia (s.356), compulsory forensics (s.176(3)).
• Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA): this replaced the Evidence Act, 1872. It deals with proof, such as electronic records counting as documents. It is not about crimes.
• IPC s.124A (sedition) vs BNS s.152: s.124A punished "hatred or contempt" against the government. S.152 punishes acts that endanger the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
• UAPA, 1967: a special anti-terror law. The BNS's terrorism offence (s.113) overlaps with it, so penalties can differ for the same act [2].

Prelims Hooks

• BNS s.103(2): mob lynching by 5 or more people on grounds such as race, caste, community, sex, place of birth, language or belief → death or life imprisonment. It followed Tehseen Poonawalla (2018).
• Section numbers: organised crime is s.111, petty organised crime is s.112, terrorism is s.113, and s.152 replaces sedition (IPC s.124A).
• Sedition trap: the Law Commission's 279th Report (2023) wanted to keep sedition. S.G. Vombatkere (2022) put it in abeyance.
• Numbers and dates: BNS has 358 sections (IPC had 511). Assent was given on 25 December 2023, and the law came into force on 1 July 2024.
• Community service under s.4(f) is a new punishment for six petty offences. The BNS does not define it.
• Trap: the hit-and-run clause s.106(2) did not come into force on 1 July 2024. Adultery and s.377 are absent. The marital rape exception is kept.

Mains Points

• Decolonisation or relabelling?
• In favour: offences against women and children come first, there are new offences such as mob lynching and organised crime, and sedition has been removed.
• Against: most of the IPC text is copied with new section numbers, which makes old case law harder to use [2]. S.152 may keep sedition's problems under a new name [2].

• Real change also needs police reform (Prakash Singh, 2006) and prosecution reform, not only a new code.

• Gaps on gender and child protection:

• The marital rape exception is kept, and dropping s.377 leaves male rape victims without protection [2].
• Child ages vary between offences and conflict with POCSO [2].

• These gaps can be tested against Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty).

• Overlap and clarity:

• Terrorism and organised crime are now in both the BNS and special laws such as the UAPA and MCOCA. Penalties can differ for the same act [2].
• Community service is left undefined [2], and the hit-and-run clause is on hold.
• Clearer definitions and one set of rules across laws would make the law more certain.

Related concepts

• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha 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