Three new criminal codes: BNS, BNSS, and BSA from 1 July 2024

For more than a century and a half, India's criminal justice system ran on three colonial-era statutes: the Indian Penal Code of 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. Parliament replaced all three in December 2023, and the new codes came into force on 1 July 2024, except for Section 106(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which was held back. The change affects every first information report, charge sheet, trial, and judgment for offences committed on or after that date.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, replaces the Indian Penal Code and defines offences and punishments. It has 358 sections, compared with 511 in the old Code. It introduces community service as a punishment for certain minor offences, creates distinct offences for organised crime and terrorism, and provides a specific offence of mob lynching, where a group of five or more persons acting together commits murder on grounds including race, caste, community, sex, place of birth, language, or personal belief. It drops the old sedition offence as such, while providing for offences against the sovereignty and integrity of India.

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, replaces the Code of Criminal Procedure and governs procedure: information to the police, arrest, investigation, bail, trial, and appeal. It has 531 sections. It formalises electronic and zero first information reports, so that a report can be filed at any police station regardless of jurisdiction and then transferred, and it requires audio-video recording of search and seizure. It also sets timelines for investigation and trial, and requires forensic investigation for offences punishable with seven years or more.

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, replaces the Indian Evidence Act and governs what evidence a court may admit and how it is proved. It has 170 sections. It gives clearer statutory recognition to electronic and digital records, reflecting how much evidence today exists on phones, computers, and servers rather than on paper alone.

The transition is not retroactive. Offences committed before 1 July 2024 continue to be governed by the old codes for substantive liability, while offences on or after that date fall under the new codes. For students and practitioners, the practical lesson is that section numbers have changed: cheating, formerly Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, is now Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and murder, formerly Section 302, is now Section 103. Knowing the old number is no longer enough.