The New Criminal Laws: BNS, BNSS, and BSA

At midnight on 1 July 2024, India’s criminal justice system changed its rulebook. The Indian Penal Code, in force since 1860, was gone. Three new laws took its place. This lesson shows what they are, what each does, what is new, and why they matter.

1Chapter 1: Three New Laws, Three Old Ones Gone

Must Know

What changed

• Three new laws took effect on 1 July 2024.
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) replaces the Indian Penal Code, 1860. It defines crimes and punishments.
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) replaces the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. It governs investigation, arrest, bail and trial.
• Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) replaces the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. It governs what counts as valid evidence.

Which cases?

• Offences committed before 1 July 2024 are still tried under the old IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act.
• Only offences on or after that date fall under the new laws.

Timeline

• 11 August 2023: three bills introduced in the Lok Sabha and sent to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs.
• 12 December 2023: revised bills, with the committee’s suggestions, replace the withdrawn originals.
• 25 December 2023: Presidential assent, after both Houses passed them that same week.
• 1 July 2024: laws come into force.

2Chapter 2: What Is New

Good to Know

New offences and punishments

• Mob lynching becomes a specific, named offence for the first time. Penalties go up to the death penalty.
• Community service is introduced as an alternative punishment for minor offences. It is a first for Indian criminal law.
• Sedition is formally removed. In its place, the BNS criminalises acts that endanger India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity.

The numbers

• BNS has 358 sections, down from the IPC’s 511.
• BNSS has 531, up from the CrPC’s 484.
• BSA has 170, close to the Evidence Act’s 167.

Real clocks in BNSS

• A chargesheet is due within 90 days for the most serious offences, and 60 for others.
• Charges must be framed within 60 days of the first hearing.
• Judgment is due within 30 days of arguments closing, extendable to 45.

Zero FIR and forensics

• BNSS formalises the Zero FIR. A police station can register a complaint about a crime outside its territory and forward it.
• For offences punishable by seven years or more, a forensic team’s visit to the crime scene becomes mandatory.
• That pushes investigations toward physical evidence over confessions alone.
• Read more: BNSS 2023 and Zero FIR and Forensic Science Infrastructure in India.

A name with a message

• The shift from “Code” and “Act” to “Sanhita” and “Adhiniyam” signals a break from colonial-era legal language.
• It is more than a content update.

3Chapter 3: Trial in Absentia, and Who Drafted the Laws

Great to Know

Trial of a fugitive

• BNSS Section 356 lets courts try and convict a “proclaimed offender” who has fled, even in their absence.
• It needs two arrest warrants 30 days apart.
• It needs a newspaper notice giving 30 more days to appear.
• It needs a mandatory 90-day wait once charges are framed.
• Commentary points to long-fled fugitives like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Dawood Ibrahim, whose cases had stalled for years.
• In July 2026, the NIA sought to use this provision against Hafiz Saeed. He was named in a supplementary chargesheet as a key conspirator in the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
• (Source: The Week.)

Who drafted them?

• A five-member Criminal Law Reforms Committee was set up in May 2020, chaired by Prof. Ranbir Singh, then Vice-Chancellor of NLU Delhi.
• It ran six rounds of public consultation in 2020.
• It was criticised for having no retired Supreme Court or High Court judge.
• Curiously, no official government document credits this committee as the basis for the final bills.
• PRS Legislative Research’s overview cites only the earlier Malimath (2003) and Verma (2013) committees.

The first case

• At 12:10 am on 1 July 2024, Gwalior’s Hazira police station in Madhya Pradesh registered the first case. It was a stolen motorcycle worth about ₹1.8 lakh, under BNS Section 303(2).
• A Delhi case against a street vendor was first reported as the first. Home Minister Amit Shah clarified Gwalior held the title, because the Delhi case involved an offence from before 1 July.
• (Source: The Tribune.)

A caution

• Critics say the laws still expand police powers and keep some broadly worded offences.
• A new text does not settle every old debate between state power and individual rights.
• Read more: Police Reforms in India, Article 22: Preventive Detention and NHRC: India’s Human Rights Watchdog.

4Chapter 4: In the News, 2026

Current Affairs

Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 2026

• It came into force on 1 October 2026, replacing the 1891 law.
• Electronic and digital bank records are accepted as evidence if no tampering is detected.
• Bank officers no longer need to appear as witnesses. A court can still call them if it records a special cause in writing.
• The government can extend the Act to other financial-sector entities by notification.
• (Source: PIB.)
• Read more: Core Banking Solutions (CBS) and Money and Banking.

Women and children

• On 4 August 2026, MoS Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar detailed BNS provisions in a Lok Sabha reply.
• BNS Chapter V gives crimes against women and children priority over all other offences.
• For gang rape of a woman under 18, BNS prescribes life imprisonment or death. This removes the old age split between victims under 16 and under 12.
• Police must record a rape victim’s statement by audio-video means, with a woman magistrate where possible.
• Medical personnel must send the victim’s medical report to the investigating officer within seven days.
• (Source: PIB.)

Training the system

• On 25 July 2026, the Law Ministry told the Lok Sabha that the BPR&D has trained over 83,740 officers and stakeholders since 2024.
• It covers all five pillars: police, prisons, prosecution, judiciary and forensics.
• Police and Public Order are State-list subjects, so states and UTs handle implementation.
• The Centre supports through ICJS 2.0 and Nirbhaya Fund-supported projects.
• (Source: PIB.)

5Chapter 5: Real Question

Exam Angle

UPSC CSP 2026, Zero FIR

• UPSC tested three statements about Zero FIRs under BNSS.
• Only one was correct: a Zero FIR can be filed regardless of territorial jurisdiction.
• Trap 1: the receiving station, which lacks jurisdiction, has no power to start a preliminary enquiry on its own.
• Trap 2: electronic filing is optional, never obligatory.
• See the question.

Quick Q&A

• BNS sections? 358.
• BNSS sections? 531.
• First case? Gwalior, 12:10 am.
• Trial in absentia section? BNSS 356.
• Officers trained? Over 83,740.