Parliament Passes Three Criminal Law Reform Bills to Replace IPC, CrPC, Evidence Act

Context: The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Act will replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Indian Evidence Act of 1872. 

About three Criminal Law Reform Bills

• Formation of Committee: The Ministry of Home Affairs in India, on May 4, 2020, established a committee to review and recommend reforms which was headed by Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh.
• Aim: To overhaul the criminal justice system by providing clear definitions of various offenses and punishments. Criminal law and criminal procedures fall under the Concurrent List.

History of the Criminal Justice System in India

• British Rule and Codification: Criminal laws were codified, and even persists now.
• Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay shaped India’s criminal laws during British rule.
  • He is often regarded as the chief architect of the codification of criminal laws in India.

Need For the three Criminal Law Reform Bills

• Colonial Legacy: To modernize and streamline the complex and obsolete criminal law. 
• Misuse of Sedition Law: Section 124A under IPC has been misused to persecute political dissent.
• Pendency and Delay: The earlier procedures led to backlogs and delayed justice delivery.
• Low Conviction Rates: It highlights the need for reforms to enhance the efficacy.
• Overcrowded Prisons and Undertrials: The system has led to prisoners awaiting their trials.
• Retributive to Restorative Justice: To rehabilitate and introduce protection measures for victims.

Key Highlights of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

• Offences against the Body: BNS retains the provisions of the IPC which criminalizes acts such as murder, abetment of suicide, assault and causing grievous hurt.   
• Sexual offences against Women: It increases the threshold for the victim to be classified as a major, in the case of gang rape, from 16 to 18 years of age.  
• Remove Sedition (Rajdroh): The BNS removes the offense of sedition. 
• Terrorism: Section 113 of the BNS modified the definition of the crime of terrorism to adopt the existing definition under Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967(UAPA).
• Organized Crime: It includes offenses such as kidnapping, extortion, contract killing, land grabbing, financial scams, and cybercrime carried out on behalf of a crime syndicate.  
• Mob Lynching:  It adds murder or grievous hurt by five or more people on specified grounds, as an offence. These grounds include race, caste, sex, language, or personal belief.  
• Criminalisation of Suicides Impacting Official Discharge of Duties: It criminalizes any attempt of suicide with the intent to compel or restrain any public servant from discharging official duties. 
• Fake Speech: Section 153B addresses the “hate speech” provision. This section criminalizes, causing “disharmony or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will” between communities.
• Rulings of the Supreme Court:  The BNS conforms to some decisions of the Supreme Court. 
• Punishment on Publication: Section 73 provides punishment of two-year jail sentence and a fine for printing or publishing ‘any matter’ in rape or sexual assault cases without permission.
• Petty organized crime Redefined: Theft under it would include trick theft, theft from vehicle, dwelling house, or business premises, cargo theft, pickpocketing, theft through card skimming, shoplifting, and theft of Automated Teller Machine.
• Community Service: It adds community service as a punishment.

Key Challenges with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

• Age of Criminal Responsibility: The age of criminal responsibility increases from 7 to 12 years.  
• On Sedition: It broadens the range of acts that could threaten India’s unity and integrity.  
• On Community Service: It does not define what it will entail and how it will be administered.  
• Offenses against Women: It has not addressed several recommendations made by the Justice Verma Committee (2013) and Supreme Court on reforming offenses against women.
• Drafting Issues: There are several drafting issues in the BNS. The BNS does not retain section 377. This implies that rape of an adult man will not be an offence under any law. 

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, Act 2023 (BNSS)

• It was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 11, 2023 to replace the CrPC, 1973. 

Proposed Key Changes

• Detention of Undertrials:  As per the CrPC, if an accused has spent half of the maximum period of imprisonment in detention, he must be released on personal bond. 
  • This provision will also not apply to offenses punishable by life imprisonment, and persons against whom proceedings are pending in more than one offense.
• Medical Examination: Any police officer can request such an examination.
• Forensic Investigation: It is mandated for offenses with at least 7 years of imprisonment. 
• Samples: Finger impressions and voice samples can be collected from unarrested persons.
• Timelines for procedures:  The BNSS prescribes timelines for various procedures.  
• Preventive Detention: The detained person must be produced before the Magistrate or released in petty cases within 24 hours.

Key Issues with the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, Act 2023 (BNSS)

• The Procedure of Custody: It allows up to 15 days of police custody, which can be authorized in parts during the initial 40 or 60 days of the 60 or 90 days period of judicial custody. 
• The power to use Handcuffs: It has been expanded beyond the time of arrest.
• Rights of the Accused: The BNSS retains adds that first-time offenders get bail after serving one-third of the maximum sentence. 
• Safeguards On The Attachment Of Property: The CrPC allows police to seize property. This is applicable only to movable properties. The BNSS2 extends this to immovable properties as well. 
• Overlaps With Existing Laws: Over the years, special laws have been enacted to regulate various aspects of criminal procedure.  However, the BNSS retains some of the procedures.
• Excess Powers to Police: It gives wide powers to the police to arrest, search, seize, and detain without any judicial oversight or safeguards.

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News Source: PWOnlyIAS