Bills seeking to replace IPC, CrPC, Indian Evidence Act referred to Standing Committee

Source: The post is based on the article “Bills seeking to replace IPC, CrPC, Indian Evidence Act referred to Standing Committee”  published in The Hindu on 19th August 2023

What is the News?

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023, and Bharatiya Sakhshya Bill, 2023 have been referred to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs.

These bills seek to replace the Indian Penal Code,1860; Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 and the Indian Evidence Act,1872.

What are the key highlights of the three bills?

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023:

The bill seeks to replace the IPC by repealing 22 of its provisions, proposes changes to 175 existing provisions and introduces eight new sections. It contains a total of 356 provisions.

The punishment for all types of gang rape will now include 20 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment. 

The punishment for the rape of a minor will include the imposition of the death penalty. Various offences have also been made gender neutral.

For the first time capital punishment has been introduced for the offence of mob lynching apart from the offence being made punishable with 7 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment.

The bill repeals the offense of sedition, which was widely criticized as a colonial relic that curbed free speech and dissent.However, upon closer inspection, it can be seen that the provision has been introduced under a new name and with a more expansive definition for the offence.

The bill introduces community service as a form of punishment for specific crimes, which can help in reforming offenders and reducing overcrowding in prisons.

The Bill also criminalizes sexual intercourse under the false pretext of marriage or by deceitful means.A maximum of 10-year imprisonment has been proposed for the offence.

The provision for the offence of adultery has also been omitted.This is in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2018 in the case of Joseph Shine v. Union of India, where Section 497 of the IPC, which criminalized adultery, was held to be unconstitutional.

The provision legalising marital rape has however been retained.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023:

The Bill will replace the CrPC by repealing nine of its provisions.It proposes changes to 160 provisions and introduces nine new provisions.It contains a total of 533 sections.

Section 230 has been introduced to ensure that a copy of the FIR is made available to the accused and the victim free of cost and within fourteen days from the date of production or appearance of the accused.

The Bill also permits the filing of a zero FIR from any part of the country.It also allows the facility for an accused person to be examined through electronic means, like video conferencing.

Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023:

The bill will replace the Indian Evidence Act.It proposes changes to 23 provisions and introduces one new provision.It contains 170 sections in total.

The Bill permits the admissibility of an electronic or digital record as evidence and will have legal validity as documentary evidence. 

The ambit of what constitutes secondary evidence has also been expanded in the bill.