Union Home Minister introduced the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakhshya Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha, on 11th August.
- The three new laws will abolish the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Criminal Procedure Code, (1898), 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 made by the British and passed by the British Parliament.
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023.
- Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill: It will replace Criminal Procedure Code, (1898). It will now have 533 sections, 160 sections have been changed, 9 new sections have been added and 9 sections have been repealed.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill: Key provisions
- It will replace theIndian Penal Code, 1860.
- It will have 356 sections instead of the earlier 511 sections, 175 sections have been amended, 8 new sections have been added and 22 sections have been repealed.
- It does not contain IPC Section 377 (or an equivalent section), which was read down by the Supreme Court in 2018. The removes the punishment for attempting suicide (Section 309).
- For the first time, the offences of terrorist activities and organised crime have been added in the draft.
- The proposed legislation will repeal the offence of sedition, which is criminalised under Section 124A of the IPC.
- The new bill replaces the sedition provision with Section 150, which deals with “acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”. Such actions will be punishable with 7 years in jail, life imprisonment and fine.
- The proposed changes also call for punishment for mob lynching, with the death penalty in certain cases.
- Other prospective punishments include death penalty for rape of a minor and 20 years jail to life imprisonment for gang rape.
- The provisions include one year imprisonment for bribing voters during polls.
- It calls for community service as a punishment for petty offences, which will be the part of penal code for the first time.
- There is no Section 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) in the proposed Sanhita. The offence of cheating is covered under Section 316.
- IPC Section 302 prescribes the punishment for murder: Section 302 in the proposed Sanhita describes the offence of “Snatching”.
- In the proposed Sanhita, murder is covered under Section 99, which identifies the distinction between culpable homicide and murder.
- IPC Section 375 defines the offence of rape. But now, the offence of rape is defined under Section 63 of the proposed Sanhita. The seven conditions of forced sexual intercourse, which constitute the offence of rape under the IPC, have been retained in the proposed Sanhita.
