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Criminal Law Act
Replacing the century-old criminal laws with a new set of legislations for introducing a modern and technology-driven criminal justice system, rolling out the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act and fire-fighting to check unabated violence in Manipur kept the Union home ministry busy in 2024. Assisting the Election Commission in holding the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir without major incidents and bringing down the violence in Naxal-affected states and northeastern region are the other key highlights of the country's crucial ministry. While the population enumeration exercise Census continues to be on hold for past four years as no decision has been taken by the ministry as to when it will be carried out, the ministry created five year districts in Ladakh and renamed Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as Sri Vijaya Puram during the year. The three new criminal laws -- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya ...
The conviction rate will go up with the implementation of the new criminal laws that will then lead to a drop in crimes, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday. The biggest feature of the new criminal laws is that their soul is Indian and their objective is to provide justice, he further said. Shah was addressing a gathering at an event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the successful implementation of the three new criminal laws. The new laws -- the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam -- came into effect on July 1, replacing the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. Chandigarh has become the country's first administrative unit to achieve 100 per cent implementation of the three laws. After the implementation of the new laws, justice will be ensured in less time, the conviction rate will be higher and, because of that, the crime
Haryana-resident Gurmail Baljit Singh, accused of being one of the shooters who killed NCP leader Baba Siddique, has a prior criminal history, including a murder case against him, police said on Sunday. Twenty-three-year-old Singh's family said they disowned him 11 years ago and have called for exemplary punishment for his actions. Mumbai Police has arrested two of the alleged assailants -- Singh from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh-native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap. The third accused, Shiv Kumar, is on the run and efforts are on to trace him, police said. The trio have been booked under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including for murder and under provisions of the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act, they said. Giving details of Singh's criminal record, Kaithal Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kalia told PTI that the accused was arrested in a murder case in 2019, in which he got bail later. Another case was registered against him after a mobile phone was recovered from hi
Effective policing, effective law and order, and effective action against crimes and criminals are necessary for India to become the third largest economy in the world, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan said Wednesday. Delivering Dr Anandswarup Gupta Memorial Lecture on the 54th Foundation Day of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) as the chief guest, he said the role of the organisation in police modernisation and upgradation is of paramount importance. The home secretary said BPR&D is the only Central Police Organisation that connects all other police organisations and police forces of states and Union territories through its role as the think tank of the Indian police, for the promotion of excellence in policing through research, modernisation, training, and capacity building. He lauded BPR&D's efforts in training and publicity for the implementation of the new criminal laws, which have resulted in the training of more than nine lakh stakeholders ...
The DMK on Friday approached the Madras High Court to declare as ultra vires and unconstitutional, the three new criminal laws brought in by the Union government. The three laws-- Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam have come into effect from July 1. They have replaced the Indian Penal Code, The Code of Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act. A division bench comprising Justices S S Sundar and N Senthil Kumar before whom the petition filed by DMK Organising Secretary R S Bharathi came up for hearing, ordered notice to the Centre, returnable by four weeks. According to the petitioner, the government introduced the three Bills and got them passed by the Parliament without any meaningful discussion. In the absence of any substantive changes, mere shuffling of sections was unnecessary and will cause a lot of inconvenience and confusion regarding the interpretation of the provisions, he added. He said shuffling of ...
Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday welcomed the Tamil Nadu government's decision to appoint a committee to suggest state-specific amendments to the three new criminal laws and asserted that criminal law is a concurrent list subject which makes the state legislature competent to make amendments. He also stressed that criminal laws that are in consonance with modern principles of criminal jurisprudence must be enacted. "I welcome the decision of the government of Tamil Nadu to appoint a Committee to suggest state amendments to the three criminal laws that came into force on 1 July 2024," the former home minister said in a post on X. Criminal Law is a subject in the concurrent list of the Constitution and the state legislature is competent to make amendments, Chidambaram said. "I also welcome the appointment of Justice (retd) Mr K.Sathyanarayanan as the one-person Committee. I request the Committee to hold consultations with all stakeholders including judges, lawyers, police, la
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Saturday said he does not consider replacing the IPC with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) a "welcome change" as it was done without holding a wide-ranging discussion by involving all stakeholders. Speaking to reporters in Santiniketan, Sen said extensive discussions were needed before enacting new laws. "There has not been any evidence that any such wide-ranging talks had preceded before enacting this with all the stakeholders. Also in this vast country, the problems faced by a state like Manipur and another state, say Madhya Pradesh, cannot be the same," he said. "Any move to usher in such a change with the help of the majority sans any discussion with all sides concerned, cannot be labelled as a welcome change, a good change which augurs well by me," he added. Sen was also asked about the Lok Sabha election results. He said, "The election results reflect that such (Hindutva) brand of politics has been thwarted to some extent." The economist said
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday alleged the three new criminal laws which came into force from July 1, will now be used more against the poor, weaker sections, Muslims, Adivasis and Dalits. Addressing a seminar here, Owaisi claimed the three new criminal lawsBharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), will reduce the rights of the common people and give sweeping powers to the police (to take action against anyone). "These new (criminal) laws will now be used even more than before against the poor, weaker sections, Muslims, Adivasis and Dalits," the Hyderabad MP claimed. He said there was no mention (in the new laws) about the action to be taken against police if they commit any mistake. "The new laws are more dangerous than the UAPA--Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," the AIMIM chief further said, adding one can imagine how these laws will be used.
CBI Director Praveen Sood on Thursday said the central agency is geared to help states and other stakeholders implement the three new criminal laws which came into force earlier this week. He also said that the CBI is working with the Law Ministry to successfully implement the three new laws. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) replaced the Indian Penal Code(IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act respectively from July 1. Addressing an event at the CBI academy, Ghaziabad where Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal presented the President's Police Medal (PPM) for Distinguished Service and Indian Police Medal (IPM) for Meritorious Service to 39 CBI personnel, Sood said the agency and the Law Ministry are working in synergy to prioritise more efficient prosecution along with investigation. According to a ministry statement, he noted that CBI's role has been evolving with the ..
A police officer can detain a person who resists or disregards lawful directions to prevent a cognisable offence, according to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) which came into effect on Monday. The BNSS, which replaced the British-era Code of Criminal Procedure, has introduced "a new insertion" as Clause 172 in 'Preventive Action of the Police'. It states that people must conform to directions of the police issued in the course of preventing the commission of a cognizable offence, officials said. The provision allows a police officer to detain such person and produce them before a magistrate or, in petty cases, release the person as soon as possible within 24 hours, they said. Under the BNSS, police officials have been given a layer of immunity in cases of dereliction in carrying out duties on the orders of an executive magistrate to disperse unlawful assembly. In such cases, police officers cannot be prosecuted without the sanction of the government. Under clause 58
As the three new criminal laws came into effect, the Delhi Police organised awareness sessions at more than 100 police stations across the national capital for common people, officials said on Monday. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) on Monday replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. Kamlesh Kumar, a resident of Nangloi in Outer district, said that he got to know that an awareness session would be organised to educate/aware local people about the new laws. "I visited Mundka police station and learned about the new laws," Kumar said. Similar sessions were also organised at Nangloi, Ranhola, Nihal Vihar, Paschim Vihar East, Paschim Vihar West, Sultan Puri, Raj Park, Mangol Puri, Rani Bagh and many other police stations, a senior police officer said. "Awareness sessions at over 100 police stations were organised for common
The Karnataka government on Monday opposed the three new criminal laws, which came into force on July 1, saying the Centre did not take its suggestions into consideration. The three laws Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) replacing Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act should have been implemented by the BJP government during its previous tenure itself and not now, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said in a press conference The Minister recalled that in 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah wrote to CM Siddaramaiah asking him to review and give suggestions on these laws. Based on the Chief Minister's direction, an expert committee was formed. The panel submitted a report to Siddaramaiah, which was forwarded to Shah. We gave a total of 23 suggestions but the central government did not take any of it seriously. No opinion of ours is included in it. Now, th