Big News : The implementation of new criminal laws, supplanting colonial-era codes, is scheduled to commence on July 1st.

Three fresh statutes on criminality, supplanting antiquated British legal codes, are set to take effect starting July 1st. These laws, approved during the Winter Session of Parliament and receiving the President’s assent, entail harsher penalties specifically aimed at acts of terrorism and lynching. They mark a significant departure from the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), Indian Evidence Act, and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), ushering in a new legal framework for the nation.

 

The trio of fresh criminal statutes comprises the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, heralding a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s criminal justice framework.

As per three identical notifications issued by the Union Home Ministry, the provisions outlined in the new legislation will be enforced starting July 1st.

Parliament passed The Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita, 2023, The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023, and The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 on December 21 of the preceding year. These bills received Presidential assent from President Droupadi Murmu on December 25, subsequently replacing the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, and the IPC.

However, despite assurances made to protesting truckers, the government has opted not to implement the provision pertaining to hit-and-run cases involving vehicle drivers.

 

One of the notifications stated, “In accordance with the authority vested by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023), the central government hereby designates the 1st day of July 2024 as the effective date for the enforcement of the provisions outlined in the aforementioned Sanhita, excluding the provision detailed in sub-section (2) of section 106.”

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