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THE SCENARIO OF THE NEW CRIMINAL LAWS IN INDIA

Publications, Research paper

ABSTRACT:

The Bhartiya Nayay Sanhita Bill replaces the Indian Penal Code of 1860 Criminal Procedure Code 1898 and Indian Evidence Act 1872. The purpose to replace these is to bring new provisions in the age- old criminal laws that are existing in India. Another reason is that English Law prevails in India as India was under British control for nearly 200 years and before English East India Company was established India was ruled by Kings and Princes. Condition of that India was quite different in comparison to today’s India. Britishers came to India and they were the one who introduced Law to India. As a result the major part of our codified laws have a English background and are framed according to the Britishers according to their benefit but, time has changed India is an independent country under democracy time has arrived to bring major changes in this age old provisions and frame them according to India. This research paper attempts to throw light on the old provisions and the new provisions finding various similarities and dissimilarities between the old laws and the new laws and how these laws would be implemented according to the conditions of Indian Society and it also aims to include the whole process of implementation of the new criminal laws the challenges that were faced by the implementing body in the whole process in addition to that mentioning my own viewpoint with suggestions and concluding the paper.

KEYWORDS:

Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, IPC, Provisions, Crime, Laws, CRPC, IEA.

INTRODUCTION:

The Indian Penal Code is the official criminal code of the Republic of India which is set to be replaced by Bhartiya Nayaya Sanhita Bill 2023. It was a complete code intended to cover all aspects of criminal law. The Indian Penal Code came into force in 1862 in all British Presidencies but it didn’t applied to the princely states as they had their own courts.

The Criminal Procedure Code was introduced in 1861. The introduction of this statute made the Britishers free from any kind of criminal proceedings except High Court. Several amendments were made in this statute in the year 1872, 1882 and 1898 respectively in order of proper administration. The present code came into effect in 1973.

The Indian Evidence Act was introduced on 1st September 1872 having 11 chapters and 167 sections. This act has been amended various times the latest amendment was done on 31st October 2019.

All these three acts are being replaced by the new acts which are introduced by the government of India:

  1. The Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (second) Act referred as “BNS Act”
  2. Bhartiya Sakshya (Second) Act referred as “BS Act”
  3. Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (Second) Act referred as  “BNSS Act

These three bills got assent on 25th December,2023 from President of India and will be came to be known as Acts.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

This paper is of descriptive nature, providing the historical backgrounds of all the three acts that are mentioned in introductory part analysis of the newly introduced bills comparing the old and the new provisions and relating that with the current day scenario, requirement of making the changes in the age- old acts that were prevalent in India along with personal suggestions. Sources of information like bare acts, newspaper journals and various internet websites are utilised for this research paper.

HISTOROCAL BACKGROUND OF INDIAN PENAL CODE:

The Indian Penal Code came into effect in 1860, the first draft was made by First Law Commission of India. The commission was headed by Thomas Babington Macaulay. It was based on Law of England and certain parts were taken from Napoleonic Code and Louisiana Civil Code of 1825. The code came into effect from 1st January 1860 after a lot of revisions and amendments by Barnes Peacock the chief justice of Calcutta High Court. Before the introduction of IPC Muhammadan law was prevalent in most of the parts of India. The British didn’t interfere in the criminal law of the country until the East India Company for the first time interfered in 1861 time to time the British Government continued to alter the Muhammadan law till IPC came into effect. IPC has survived since and flourished over the last 160 years, but over all these it has not been able to get rid of these colonial provisions. The Mail Math Committee report while advocating criminal justice reforms has suggested some reforms in the Code and other criminal laws now it is the time to come out of the age old codes and shape the codes according to the needs of the Indian Society. Law is of evolving nature and its something that is dynamic in this contemporary society. As a result the old provisions of IPC cannot continue in this age some reforms need to be made so that it can cope up with the current day scenario of India as it evolved in Britain it is based on English Law but Indian Society is very different from the English one it needs the law according to its requirements. To fulfil these requirements the Indian Government is replacing IPC with The Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (second) Act also known as “BNS Act”

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE:

CRPC was introduced in India to deal with the procedural aspects of Criminal Law in the country. It lays down the step by step procedure for the investigation, trial and adjudication of criminal cases in India. It was the statute that was introduced in 1868 just after IPC. It mentions the various procedures through which the judiciaries, law enforcement agencies engaged in criminal justice delivering system finds their ways of dealing with the criminal case. It covers various aspects like arrest and detention of suspects , rules od evidences, the whole process of conducting the trials, rules of handling the witnesses. The CRPC is an essential method of ensuring free and fair justice in the country. It lays down the mechanism of making criminal laws in the country. As a gradual need of the society this statute also required some changes as a need of this , the statute has been replaced by Bhartiya Sakshya(second) Act also known as the “BS” Act.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT:

IN the year 1868 a commission was formulated to frame a draft code and 39 sections were included in the code. This code was considered irrelevant to India and was dropped out. In the year 1870 a new code came with 163 sections in a form different from the present Evidence Act 1872 was prepared by James Stephens which he recasted and ultimately the Indian Evidence Act was passed. After the partition the act was applicable to both the countries India and Pakistan except the territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It has 11 chapters 167 sections and came into force on 1st  September 1872 and applies to all over India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Evidence under the said act can be classified into different categories such as :

Oral evidence

Documentary Evidence

Primary Evidence 

Secondary Evidence

Real Evidence

Hearsay Evidence

Direct Evidence 

Circumstantial Evidence 

Judicial and Non-judicial Evidence

Prima Facie Evidence

The Act under the British period was something that consisted of progressive regulations influenced by English System. But as this Act was something that came into force during British era it is more concentrated and concerned with English society it has provisions that deals with such type of things that has the relevancy of the British era but in modern day society this act has become irrelevant society is evolving in Indian society an Act that was made ages ago when Britishers were ruling over India according to the need of that time. At the present day this Act is inappropriate for the Indian Society , and for this reason the revised versions like the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha (second) Act is coming into force.

RELEVANCY OF THE NEW LAWS IN SOCIETY:

The coming of the new criminal laws is very essential for the society times have changed along with that the mindsets of the people are also changing according to the conditions of the contemporary world, along with thus everything the nature of the crimes are also changing , the degree of grievousness of the crimes and the most important thing is the mindset of the criminals according to the ever evolving society every person is changing so the laws that were made in the 19th century are quite irrelevant in this society it has many rigid  provisions that couldn’t be applied in this society, in this society we need such kind of laws that are flexible enough to deal with the present day problems. For example, now a days cyber crime is very common but in the age old statues there is no mention of these kind of crimes but in the modern society this is very common to avoid any kind of discrepancies in delivering justice we need new flexible laws in the society. Another thing of concern is that these age old statutes came up in British era according to the mindset of the Britishers but the Indian society or Indian Judiciary is very different from Western society and English judiciary in Indian society application of these statues is quite problematic. I completely agree that these laws were fully effective since all these years but society is something that is ever-evolving and dynamic which is open to changes may be the law that was effective in the past years may not be effective in accordance with the need of society.

BHARTIYA NAYAYA SANHITA ACT:

The BNS act is among the three criminal laws that are being got to be introduced in India to replace IPC, 1860 which is having 358 sections. Various changes have been made in 175 sections, 8 new sections have been added and 22 sections are repealed. It retains IPC provisions, recognized new offences, and raises penalties for some offences.

Significant amendments in the legislation:

  1. Section 69 of the BNS stipulates penalties for engaging in sexual intercourse through deceptive means i.e deceptive commitments regarding job advancement, inducements or marriage while concealing one’s identity.
  2. Section 109 of BNS identifies organized crime as an offence and specifies its penalty.
  3. Section 111 penalizes terrorism involving acts intending or likely to threaten India’s unity, integrity, security, sovreignity or economic.
  4. Section 195 prescribes penalties for disseminating false information whether through spoken words , signs , writing, representation or electronic means.
  5. Section 101 expands murder grounds, penalizing individual acting together based on race, caste, sex or place of birth.
  6. Section 302 identifies snatching as an offense and specifies its penalty.
  7. The Death Penalty provision is introduced for crime against girls belowc 18 years of age.

BHARTIYA SAKSHYA ACT:

The BS act will place the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 with some major changes in which 23 sections are amended 1 section is entirely new and 5 sections have been removed. The SAct strives to establish general rules and principles of evidence for a fair trial, adapting to technological advancements and societal changes over recent decades.

Significant amendments in legislation are :

  1. BS act recognizes electronic record as primary evidence under Section 57.
  2. BS act allows electronic presentation of oral evidence, enabling remote testimony and ensure that electronic records will have the same legal effect as paper records\.
  3. BS act expands the concept of joint trail under Section 24 which states that cases involving multiple people in which the accused flees or fails to respond to an arrest warrant are treated as joint trial.
  4. BS act expands the list of secondary documents under section 58 which include:
  1. Oral and written admissions,
  2. The testimony of a person who has examined the document and is skilled in the examination of documents.

BHARTIYA NAGRIK SURAKSHA SANHITA ACT:

The BNSS act will replace the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 repealing 9 sections from the existing act changes in suggesting 160 sections and introducing 9 new provisions.

Significant amendments in the legislation:

  1. The BNSS act under section 176 requires forensic investigation for crimes punished with 7 years imprisonment or more. The appointed experts will visit gather and document the process.
  2. If proclaimed offender avoids trail by absconding the judgement can be pronounced in their absence under section 356 of BNSS Act.
  3. Earlier in CRPC if an accused has served half the maximum prison period they must be released on a personal bond except for death penalty ccases but now BNSS act that this doesn’t apply to life imprisonment offences or individual punished under more than one offence.
  4. Earlier CRPC permits medical examination including rape cases conducted by a registered medical practitioner upon request of the sub inspector, but now thus new act expands this by allowing police officer to make such a request.
  5. The concept of zero affair is introduced under section 173(1) and mandate police station to register FIR regardless of jurisdiction
  6. Earlier CRPC authorizes magistrates to order specimen signatures or handwriting but now under new act section 349 extends thus to include finger impressions voice signals even from someone not arrested
  7. The BNSS act establishes deadlines such as rape examination with 7 days giving judgement within 30 days of completion of arguments, progress of investigation to be informed to victim within 90 days plea bargaining application to be filed within 30 days from the date of framing of charges and framing of charges within 60 days from the first hearing.
  8. The BNSS act removes the provision allowing cities with over a million people to have metropolitan magistrate.
  9. The BNSS altered procedure of police custody allowing custody in parts within initial 40 or 60 days which might result in the denial of bail if needed.
  10. The BNSS Act allows the use of handcuffs during arrest limited to habitual offender escapees or individuals accused of serious offenses as rape, acid attacks, organized crimes, economic crimes etc.
  11. The BNSS act allows a successor officer including public servant, medical officer and investigating officers to testify if the original officer is unavailable due to reasons like death, transfer, retirement to expedite case proceedings.
  12. The act extents the power of attachment of property to immovable properties as well

SUGGESTIONS:

Me being a responsible citizen of my country is of the opinion that these three new criminal laws were indeed needed to be introduced in this current scenario as the society is evolving law also needs to be evolved according to the gradual needs of people but the provisions mentioned in the old statues were quite reasonable , it would be better to blend both old and the new provisions and make all these three laws relevant in the society so that the there comes no obstacles in the justice delivering process the citizens enjoy the benefit of all the three new criminal laws in a proper manner leading to the betterment of society.

CONCLUSION:

The three new criminal laws are adding new colours to the justice delivering system of the country after ages a revolutionary decision has been taken which was necessary for the society. These three laws will surely contribute something good to the society. Crimes are everywhere but the way of dealing with the criminals is what that matters the most if we are having a system that is flexible and organized our work becomes much easier, then we can not only just think from the point of view of the victim but also from the accused.

These three laws will surely help in that process and make the society much and much better place to live, these laws will surely lead to the progress and development of India.    

  CITATIONS:

CRIMINAL LAW IN INDIA BY SANDEEP BHALLA.

INDIAN PENAL CODE,1860.

THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE,1973.

INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT,1872.

LIVE LAW WEBSITE.

AUTHOR NAME:

DEBADRITA ACHARJEE

LLYOD SCHOOL OF LAW.

GREATOR NOIDA.