Three new criminal laws to come into force from July 1, 2024: Govt notification
Government of India on Friday issued a Gazette notification declaring the three new criminal bills namely Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 will be effective from July 1, 2024, with an to revamp the criminal justice system.
The three criminal legislations were passed in the Parliament's winter session and received the President's assent on December 25, 2023.
In three separate notifications, government announced the enforcement date of the newly enacted laws.
During the August Monsoon session of Parliament, the bills were first introduced. Following several recommendations from the Standing Committee on Home Affairs, the government withdrew the bills and reintroduced them in the winter session.
Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, The Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023; and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023, aim to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and CrPC, respectively.
Earlier in January, the Prime Minister had emphasised that the new criminal laws were framed with the spirit of «citizen first, dignity first and justice first' and instead of working with 'danda', police now need to work with „data“.
Offences such as acts of secession, armed rebellion, subversive activities, separatist activities or endangering the sovereignty or unity in the new avatar of the sedition law are listed under The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The word terrorism, for the first time, has been defined in
