The three new criminal procedures bills have finally got the assent of the President on the Good governance day I.e, 25th December 2023 and have become the laws.
The three new criminal procedures Act are:
- The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
- The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
- Bharatiya Sakshya law, 2023
These Three criminal procedures have replaced the age-old acts that are The Indian Penal code,1860, The code of criminal procedures, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. These acts have been in function since colonial times and were mainly suited to the conditions of that time and were mainly made to benefit the britishers. These acts had flaws and were not apt for the present scenario and therefore needed some amendments and crevices to fill. The amendments to the previous acts have helped us free ourselves from the clutches of the colonial rulers and gave us a chance to implement the acts which are well suited to Indian society and its conditions.
The Home minister Amit shah explained that through these bills the government has tried to shift their focus from deterrence and punishment to reformation and justice within a time limit.
The government has focused on increasing digitization , use of information technology, videography of evidence and many more to go with the time and utilize the available resources and technologies in this field too for speedy results.
The road to assent of President | new criminal procedures
The three bills were taken for consideration during the winter session of the parliament which commenced on December 04,2023.
But these were introduced in the 2023 monsoon session and then were referred to the Parliamentary Standing committee on home affairs for reviews and recommendations.
The committee recommended various changes to the bills which were necessary according to them. Like the changes in adultery offense as the new bill has completely removed the offense of adultery and has decriminalized it totally.
The government has removed it to be in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment in 2018 in Joseph Shine case in which it decriminalized the offense of adultery which was under Section 497 of Indian Penal code on the ground that it was discriminatory towards women and lacked gender neutrality.
Earlier it had a punishment of maximum 5 years but the women were exempted from it.
The other recommendation that the committee gave was related to Section 377 of Indian Penal code as the new bill completely removed the section 377 which means that it has decriminalized sexual offenses against men , bestiality, etc.
The other recommendations were related to the proper handling of digitized evidence, online FIR , and others.
Most of the recommendations were accepted but the ones related to adultery and sections 377 were not included and many other changes were considered grammatical in nature.
And after all the changes in the bills , the revised bills were reintroduced in the lower house (Lok Sabha) and the Upper house( Rajya Sabha) on 20th and 21st December 2023 respectively.
And after that on 25th December 2023 the honorable President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the three Bills and completely changed history by making them the law and freed us from the colonial draconian laws.
Now let’s understand these three laws (NEW CRIMINAL PROCEDURES) in some detail..
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,2023
This new law ( new criminal procedures ) has replaced the Indian Penal code of 1960 which needed reforms at large scale. The BNS 2023 has added various provisions and has repealed some . Like it has added the term terrorism which described it as an act causing death or loss of property using nuclear bombs , explosive materials etc to hamper the sovereignty , integrity and unity of the nation. And the accused would be given life imprisonment or death sentence and also no parole.
The other important provision related to Sedition(rajdroh) has now been replaced by Deshdroh which is an offense against the country and Sedition is the offense against the government. This law was mainly used by the colonial masters to suppress the rebellion and because of that many freedom fighters were sent to jail like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra bose, Jawaharlal nehru etc.
Community service as an offense has been included which serves two sided benefits.
Adultery has not been included and sec 377 has been completely repealed.
There are many changes which would impact the female population of the country which would be discussed in detail later in the article.
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita,2023
This law has replaced the criminal procedure code 1973 and focuses on the procedures related to arrest, bail and prosecution.
In this more emphasis is put on the electronic mode of investigation , more digitization. Forensic investigation would be mandated for the offenses which have a punishment of seven years or more of imprisonment. Online FIRs have been included and the trials , enquiries may be held in electronic mode . All these changes have been done to work according to the present situations and scenarios which is a digitalized world and to initiate speedy responses.
Bharatiya Sakshya law,2023
This law has replaced the Indian Evidence Act, it has retained most of the earlier provision but some have been changed and given importance. Like earlier the electronic evidence was considered secondary evidence but now onwards they’ll be considered Primary evidence(Information from laptops , mobile phones etc).
Now after getting a brief idea about these laws , let’s talk about their impact on half of the world’s population, that is, the Women.
Impact on Women due to the changes in the criminal procedures in India..
The condition of women in the country has improved drastically in the present . But there are various changes which need to be initiated in different spheres of the society to ameliorate the position of women in the society.
And one such sphere is the criminal sphere.
Women have to face a lot of atrocities just because they are women. They become victims of sexual abuse , patriarchy and the list is endless. So there is a need to have some reforms in that area as well .
So let’s understand the impact of these procedures on women in India.
The first case which has impacted the women is Rape. Women have been victims of such heinous acts as we know. Women have been seen as a sexual toy and disrespected through these acts.
Earlier, the punishments for rape or gang rape were not that stringent but now the government has attempted to increase the punishment which includes life imprisonment or death sentence and in the case of gang rape 20 years of imprisonment. The rape with minors has been linked with POCSO.
And through these laws government has attempted to alleviate the legal procedures for the survivor of the sexual abuse.
The law has also criminalized the provision that if someone discloses the identity of the survivor. As it really impacts the life of the victim as she has to face social criticism. And the statement of the survivor would be recorded at their home in presence of their parents.
MERCY PETITION would also not be given that easily to the accused and this would help in providing justice to the sexual assault survivor.
Speedy Trials for Speedy justice is one of the major aspects that has been taken into consideration in these laws.
As this would provide early justice to the victim otherwise it used to take years to get justice and till that time the woman has to suffer social pressure that can’t be neglected. Women have to bear all the pressure even though she has not done anything wrong. Instead of sympathies they get to hear disrespectful words and behaviors. And therefore it completely destroys their own identity and social life.
FIRs
The new law allowed the victim to file their FIR In any police station rather then to the police station where the crime has been committed. In many cases women are not able to file FIR due to this issue but now it would help them . Online FIRs have also been included and validated in the news and this would help women to not go physically which is a problem as their family feels that their social identity would deteriorate if they go to a police station. So this is definitely a great attempt to help women.
Now let’s talk about the loophole in the new laws for women.
In the new laws the offense of adultery has been removed which means that the extra marital offenses would not be considered a crime and this would eventually increase the extra marital affairs in the country and would impact the institution of marriage.
As there would be no punishment then people will be free to have relations with others and would lead to divorce and nothing else.
Conclusion- NEW CRIMINAL PROCEDURES
The new criminal procedures law have released Our country India from the clutches of colonial times as these were mainly suited to the conditions of that time and were mainly prioritizing the needs of the britishers. With time changes are required as we know that Change is the only constant . And that’s why we have article 368 in our constitution to initiate amendments as according to the present scenario. So these changes were required and our Honorable vice President also quoted that “These three bills which create history have been passed unanimously. They have unshackled the colonial legacy of our criminal jurisprudence that was hurtful to citizens of the country and favored alien rulers.”
So let’s see how impactful these NEW CRIMINALPROCEDURES would be in the near future for the country and its people.
New Criminal Procedures
