The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023

 

The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, is a legislative reform in India aimed at overhauling the criminal justice system. This act represents a comprehensive update and modernization of the existing legal framework to address contemporary challenges and enhance the effectiveness of criminal law. Here’s an overview of the key aspects and objectives of the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023:

Objectives:

1. Modernization: Updating the criminal justice system to reflect contemporary societal norms and technological advancements.
2. Efficiency: Streamlining legal procedures to ensure swift justice delivery.
3. Fairness: Ensuring the protection of individual rights and addressing issues of fairness in the legal process.
4. Clarity: Providing clearer definitions and categorizations of offenses and penalties.
5. Deterrence: Enhancing penalties to deter criminal activities effectively.

Key Provisions:

1. Revised Penal Code: Comprehensive revision of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to address new forms of crime and align with modern judicial standards.
2. Enhanced Penalties: Updating penalties for various offenses to reflect the severity of modern-day crimes and provide stronger deterrents.
3. Technological Integration: Incorporating provisions for cybercrimes and other technology-related offenses.
4. Victim Rights: Strengthening the rights and protections available to victims of crime.
5. Simplified Procedures: Streamlining criminal procedures to reduce delays and improve the efficiency of the judicial process.
6. Gender Sensitivity: Addressing gender-based crimes with a focus on protecting vulnerable groups and ensuring gender-sensitive handling of cases.

Implementation Mechanisms:

1. Judicial Training: Providing training to judicial officers and law enforcement personnel to adapt to the new provisions and procedures.
2. Public Awareness: Conducting awareness campaigns to educate the public about their rights and the new legal provisions.
3. Infrastructure Development: Investing in the necessary infrastructure to support the implementation of the updated legal framework.
4. Coordination: Ensuring effective coordination between various law enforcement agencies and the judiciary.

Impact:

1. Justice Delivery: Improving the speed and efficiency of justice delivery, thereby reducing the backlog of cases.
2. Crime Reduction: Enhancing deterrence through stricter penalties and more effective law enforcement.
3. Public Trust: Building public trust in the legal system through more transparent and fair legal processes.
4. Human Rights: Better protection of human rights through clearer definitions and protections in the law.

Challenges:

1. Transition: Managing the transition from the old to the new legal framework smoothly.
2. Training: Ensuring comprehensive training for all stakeholders involved in the criminal justice system.
3. Resource Allocation: Allocating sufficient resources for the implementation and enforcement of the new provisions.
4. Public Acceptance: Gaining public acceptance and understanding of the new legal framework.

Conclusion:

The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, marks a significant step towards modernizing India's criminal justice system. By addressing contemporary challenges and integrating advancements in law and technology, this reform aims to ensure a more efficient, fair, and effective legal framework. The successful implementation of this act will require concerted efforts from the government, judiciary, law enforcement agencies, and the public.

 

 Reference: https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-bharatiya-nyaya-second-sanhita-2023

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was introduced on August 11, 2023 to replace the IPC. It was examined by the Standing Committee on Home Affairs. The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023 (BNS2) was introduced on December 12, 2023 after the earlier Bill was withdrawn. It incorporates certain recommendations of the Standing Committee. The BNS2 largely retains the provisions of the IPC, adds some new offences, removes offences that have been struck down by courts, and increases penalties for several offences.

Highlights of the Bill

• The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita (BNS2) retains most offences from the IPC.  It adds community service as a form of punishment.
• Sedition is no longer an offence.  Instead, there is a new offence for acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.   
• The BNS2 adds terrorism as an offence.  It is defined as an act that intends to threaten the unity, integrity, security or economic security of the country, or strike terror in the people. 
• Organised crime has been added as an offence.  It includes crimes such as kidnapping, extortion and cyber-crime committed on behalf of a crime syndicate.  Petty organised crime is also an offence now.
• Murder by a group of five or more persons on grounds of certain identity markers such as caste, language or personal belief will be an offence with penalty life imprisonment or death, and with a fine.

Key Issues and Analysis

• Age of criminal responsibility is retained at seven years.  It extends to 12 years depending upon the maturity of the accused.  This may contravene recommendations of international conventions. 
• The BNS2 defines a child to mean a person below the age of 18.  However, for several offences, the age threshold of the victim for offences against children is not 18.  The threshold for minority of the victim of for rape and gangrape is different. 
• Several offences overlap with special laws.  In many cases, both carry different penalties or provide for different procedures.  This may lead to multiple regulatory regimes, additional costs of compliance and possibility of levelling multiple charges.
• The BNS2 removes sedition as an offence.  The provision on endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India may have retained aspects of sedition. 
• The BNS2 retains the provisions of the IPC on rape and sexual harassment.  It does not consider recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee (2013) such as making the offence of rape gender neutral and including marital rape as an offence. 
• The BNS2 omits S. 377 of IPC which was read down by the Supreme Court.  This removes rape of men and bestiality as offences.