In a historic move to improve India’s criminal justice system, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three important new bills: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. These new laws, which will have become operational from July 1, 2024, have replaced the old Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act. The changes include new provisions to suit modern times and technologies, with an emphasis on “Access to justice by all.” These updates aim to provide faster justice and ensure the legal system meets contemporary needs.
The newly enacted laws aim to ensure justice rather than just punishment. They focus on providing speedy justice, strengthening the judicial and court management systems, and emphasizing “access to justice by all.” The new provisions prioritize protecting victims’ rights, efficient investigation, and the effective prosecution of offenses.
How the New Laws Will Make a Difference?
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam will scrap this prolonged process and ensure time-bound completion of trials, appeals, and execution of sentences. This overhaul will put an end to the “Tarikh pe Tarikh” era, where cases are endlessly delayed.Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: Replacing the IPC, this law modernizes the definition and scope of criminal offenses, incorporating new types of crimes relevant to today’s society, including cybercrimes and offenses against women and children.
Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita: This law supersedes the CrPC, streamlining the procedural aspects of criminal justice. It introduces measures for faster investigation, clear timelines for trial completion, and stricter guidelines for bail and custody.
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam: Replacing the Indian Evidence Act, this law adapts to technological advancements and the digital age. It allows for electronic and digital evidence, ensuring robust and reliable proof systems. It also emphasizes the protection of victims and the use of territorial and extraterritorial evidence.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has notified that these new laws will come into effect from July 1, 2024. Several new provisions have been incorporated to suit contemporary times and technologies. The laws received Parliament’s nod on December 21, 2023, and the President’s assent on December 25, 2023.
BhikuMhatre recently tweeted about the introduction of three new laws by Home Minister Amit Shah. These laws will replace the outdated IPC, CrPC, and Indian Evidence Act to improve justice in criminal cases.
Example Case: The Red Fort Terror Attack
In 2000, terrorists attacked the 7 Raj Rifles unit stationed at the Red Fort, resulting in the deaths of three soldiers. Mohd Arif, the main conspirator, was arrested by Delhi police four days later.
In 2005, the trial court sentenced Arif to death. Two years later, in 2007, the Delhi High Court upheld this decision. The Supreme Court confirmed the order in 2011, and in 2012, it rejected Arif’s review petition. Arif’s curative petition was also rejected by the Supreme Court in 2014.
In September 2014, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled that all cases where a death sentence is awarded by a High Court should be reviewed by a bench of three judges. This allowed Arif to apply for a rehearing of his review petition, which he did. However, in 2022, a three-judge Supreme Court bench rejected his review petition again.
In June 2024, President Murmu rejected Arif’s mercy petition. Now, Arif can appeal to the Supreme Court once more, pleading for his death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment on humanitarian grounds, citing the mental trauma he has endured over 24 years. Human rights activists and advocates like Ashant Dushan and Indira Jaising may support his plea. The Supreme Court might eventually agree to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment, allowing Arif to live in prison at the taxpayers’ expense while he awaits the possibility of a pardon from a future government.
The case of Mohd Arif, involved in the 2000 terrorist attack on the Red Fort, shows problems in our current legal system. His case took over 20 years with multiple appeals, petitions, and reviews, demonstrating the complexities and delays in achieving finality in criminal justice.
The new laws introduced by Home Minister Amit Shah – the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam – aim to address such issues by modernizing the legal framework. Here’s how these new laws could ensure more effective justice in cases like Arif’s.
Speedy Justice
Streamlined Procedures: The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita aims to make court processes simpler and quicker. By cutting down on complicated steps, this new law will help cases be resolved faster, ensuring timely justice. This could have prevented the long delays seen in Arif’s case, where reviews and appeals took 24 years.
Strict Timelines: Setting strict deadlines for completing investigations and trials will stop unnecessary delays. In Arif’s case, faster legal processes could have led to a quicker decision, reducing the mental stress caused by the prolonged wait.
Strengthened Judicial and Court Management Systems
Efficient Case Management: The new laws aim to improve how courts are managed. This includes better tracking of cases, smarter use of resources, and using technology. These changes help handle cases more efficiently, reduce backlogs, and speed up the delivery of justice.
Specialized Benches: Creating special benches for certain types of cases, like the three-judge bench for death sentence reviews, ensures quicker and more consistent decisions. This specialization means complex cases get the focused attention they need without unnecessary delays.
Access to Justice for All
Protection of Rights: The new laws focus on protecting everyone’s rights in the justice process, including victims, the accused, and others involved. In Arif’s case, this means balancing the seriousness of the crime with the accused’s right to a fair trial and a timely resolution.
Efficient Investigation and Prosecution: The Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita aims to make investigations and prosecutions more efficient. With better-trained law enforcement and clearer guidelines, cases can be built more effectively and trials can happen faster, ensuring that justice is served promptly.
Contemporary Provisions
Use of Technology: Using modern technology in the court system can greatly reduce delays. For example, digital case management systems, virtual hearings, and electronic filing of documents can make the process faster and more efficient, making the system more responsive and easier to access.
Humanitarian Grounds and Rehabilitation
Balanced Justice: The new laws make sure that sentences are fair and balanced, considering both the need for justice and the human side of the story. In cases like Arif’s, where someone faces long years in prison and emotional strain, the legal system can adjust sentences and provide support, showing a more caring approach to justice.
These reforms aim to make the criminal justice system fairer, quicker, and easier to understand for everyone. In tough cases like Arif’s, these changes mean justice is not just fast but also fair, making sure punishments fit the crime while protecting people’s rights and keeping the courts running well.
To ensure the effective implementation of these laws, extensive training will be provided to officers of the judiciary and police departments. This will be done in a “zone-wise” approach, ensuring comprehensive understanding and application of the new legal framework.
The new laws are updated to meet the needs of today. They include punishments like community service, improve how investigations are done, and make it easier to handle digital evidence. These changes focus on making justice faster and protecting the rights of victims, which is a big step forward for India’s legal system.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam mark a big change in how India handles criminal cases. These laws promise trials that happen quickly and emphasize justice over just punishing people. They aim to rebuild trust in the legal system by ensuring fair and timely justice for everyone.
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