Source-This post on Indian Criminal Law in the Digital Age has been created based on the article “In new criminal codes, a missed opportunity” published in “The Indian Express” on 28 August 2024.
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Context-The article points out that new criminal codes in India do not adequately address emerging digital crimes. As technology advances rapidly, legislation has struggled to keep up. After almost 25 years, there is still no updated legal framework to handle these changes in criminal behavior.
What are the issues with the Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita?
The BNS mostly preserves the IPC, adding 19 new offences from other laws. The BNSS and BSA introduce minimal new sections—nine and two, respectively. Overall, the updates do not address modern societal needs or behaviors.
1) Addressing Modern Cybercrimes and Data Theft-
A) The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal of India covers modern crimes like cyberbullying and phishing. However, BNS doesn’t address these issues and rarely mentions terms like “data,” “virtual,” or “digital”.
B) The term “cyber” in Section 111 refers to organized crimes but does not define cybercrimes, while “electronic” only relates to records, documents, and signatures. Additionally, data theft is not considered a crime in the BNS because data is not classified as “property.”
C) Complainants find it hard to decide if threatening emails are covered by Sections 354 and 509 of the IPC, and companies struggle to classify data theft—whether it’s intellectual property or confidential information—under Section 378.
2) Lack of Clarity and Precision- The BNS includes terrorism and organized crimes from the UAPA and MCOCA but lacks safeguards from the original laws. Decisions to label actions as terrorism under the BNS are left to the discretion of a Superintendent of Police or higher, which can lead to arbitrariness and potential misuse.
A detailed article on Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita can be read here.
3) Misuse of Vague Terms -The BNS uses vague terms like “economic security” and “economic offences,” which could be misapplied to both fraud and legitimate business. The authority given to local police raises concerns about potential misuse.
4) Lack of Gender Neutrality- The BNS aims to make many offences gender-neutral, but “rape” is still gender-specific. Also, bestiality is no longer considered a crime, and Section 377 IPC hasn’t been reinstated.
5) Misuse Against Political Protests and Hunger Strikes -The BNS introduces a new offence for attempting suicide to compel or restrain, which could be misused against political protests and hunger strikes. This can potentially infringe on the right to protest.
Question for practice
What are the issues with the Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita?
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