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KEY FEATURES OF THE NEW CRIMINAL LAWS

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KEY FEATURES OF THE NEW CRIMINAL LAWS

Main features of the new criminal laws including the provisions that ensure speedy justice are given in Annexure.

In order to reduce overcrowding of jails, following provisions have been made in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS):

MAIN FEATURES OF THE NEW CRIMINAL LAWS

The new criminal laws mark a significant step towards creating a citizen centric, more accessible and efficient justice system. The following are main features of the new criminal laws:

process of evidence collection at the crime scene will be mandatorily videographed to prevent tampering of evidence. This dual approach significantly enhances the quality and reliability of investigations and contributes to a fair administration of justice.

Arbitrary arrest of individuals solely to initiate judicial proceedings has been curtailed. The police, now, need not arrest an accused person just for the Magistrate to take cognizance of the police report and no arrest is needed for taking handwriting, signature, fingerprint, or voice samples.

A new provision of trial in absentia for persons declared as proclaimed offenders allows the Court to proceed with the trial and pronounce the verdict in the absence of the accused. This provision ensures that justice is neither delayed nor denied.

This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Shri Bandi Sanjay Kumar in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

    1. In section 290 of BNSS, plea bargaining has been made time bound and application for plea bargaining can be made within 30 days from date of framing of charge. In a plea bargaining case, in working out a mutually satisfactory disposition of case under section 293 of BNS, where the accused is first-time offender and has not been convicted of any offence in the past, the Court may sentence such accused person to one-fourth/one-sixth of punishment prescribed for such offence.
    1. The maximum period for which undertrial prisoner can be detained has been prescribed in the section 479 of BNSS. It has been provided that where a person is a first-time offender (who has never been convicted of any offence in the past), he shall be released on bond by the Court, if he has undergone detention for the period extending up to one-third of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for such offence under that law. Further, it shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Jail to make an application to the Court in this regard.
    1. For the first time, Community Service has been introduced as one of the punishments.