On Saturday, the Union government issued three official notifications to declare the commencement of India’s new criminal laws or statutes starting July 1.
These three newly enacted laws, known as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Act, were ratified by Parliament during the Winter Session, where the BJP holds a significant majority. President Droupadi Murmu granted her approval to these laws on December 25.
One of the notifications stated, “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of section 1 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023), the Central Government hereby appoints the 1st day of July, 2024 as the date on which the provisions of the said Sanhita, except the provisions of the entry relating to section 106(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in the First Schedule, shall come into force.”
These new legislations will supersede the outdated colonial-era Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. They are designed to comprehensively reform the criminal justice system by providing definitions of various offenses and their corresponding penalties.
