About

• Last year, the Parliament passed the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023 which replaces the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, the principal law on criminal offences in the country. 
• The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita (BNS2) largely retains the provisions of the IPC, adds some new offences, removes offences that have been struck down by courts, and increases penalties for several offences.

Key changes in the BNS2 include:

Offences against the body: 

• The IPC criminalises acts such as murder, abetment of suicide, assault and causing grievous hurt. The BNS2 retains these provisions.  
• It adds new offences such as organised crime, terrorism, and murder or grievous hurt by a group on certain grounds.  

Sexual offences against women: 

• The IPC criminalises acts such as rape, voyeurism, stalking and insulting the modesty of a woman. The BNS2 retains these provisions.  
• It increases the threshold for the victim to be classified as a major, in the case of gangrape, from 16 to 18 years of age. 
• It also criminalises sexual intercourse with a woman by deceitful means or making false promises. 

Sedition: 

• The BNS2 removes the offence of sedition. 
  • It instead penalises the following: 
    • exciting or attempting to excite secession, armed rebellion, or subversive activities, 
    • encouraging feelings of separatist activities, or 
    • endangering the sovereignty or unity and integrity of India.  
  • These offences may involve exchange of words or signs, electronic communication, or use of financial means.     

Organised crime: 

• Organised crime includes offences such as kidnapping, extortion, contract killing, land grabbing, financial scams, and cybercrime carried out on behalf of a crime syndicate.  
• Attempting or committing organised crime will be punishable with life imprisonment or death. 

Terrorism: 

• Terrorism includes an act that intends to: 
  • threaten the unity, integrity, security or economic security of the country, or 
  • strike terror in the people or any section of people in India.  
• Attempting or committing terrorism will be punishable with life imprisonment or death. 

Mob lynching:  

• The BNS2 adds murder or grievous hurt by five or more people on specified grounds, as an offence.  
• These grounds include race, caste, sex, language, or personal belief.  
• The punishment for such murder is life imprisonment or death. 

Community Service:

• The BNS2 adds community service as a punishment.  
• It extends this punishment to offences such as: 
  • theft of property worth less than Rs. 5,000, 
  • attempt to commit suicide with the intent to restrain a public servant, and 
  • appearing in a public place intoxicated and causing annoyance.  

Key Issues and Analysis

• Age of criminal responsibility is retained at seven years. It extends to 12 years depending upon the maturity of the accused. This age is lower than the age of criminal responsibility in other countries. 
  • In 2007, a UN Committee recommended states to set the age of criminal responsibility to above 12 years.
• Several offences overlap with special laws. In many cases, both carry different penalties or provide for different procedures. This may lead to multiple regulatory regimes, additional costs of compliance and possibility of levelling multiple charges. 
• The BNS2 retains the provisions of the IPC on rape and sexual harassment. It does not consider recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee (2013) such as making the offence of rape gender neutral and including marital rape as an offence.  

The BNS2 does not define what community service will entail and how it will be administered.