Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

Background and evolution

The Indian Penal Code was drafted by the first Law Commission under Thomas Babington Macaulay and enacted in 1860. For more than 160 years it defined crimes and punishments in India. It was amended many times, but critics argued that its structure reflected colonial priorities, such as protecting the state and property, rather than the rights and safety of citizens.

In August 2023 the government introduced three Bills to replace the IPC, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act. After review by a parliamentary standing committee, revised Bills were passed in December 2023. The new laws—the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA)—came into force on 1 July 2024. Cases registered before that date continue under the old laws.

Key features and provisions

• Structure: about 358 sections, compared with 511 in the IPC, achieved partly by merging and reorganising provisions.
• Priority to women and children: offences against women and children are placed early in the code and grouped together.
• New offences: organised crime, terrorist acts, petty organised crime, snatching, and murder by a group of five or more on grounds such as race, caste, community or language (often called mob lynching).
• Sedition replaced: the old sedition offence is not retained; a new section punishes acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
• Community service: introduced as a punishment for some petty offences.
• Sexual offences: sexual intercourse by deceitful means, including a false promise of marriage, made a separate offence.
• Removed: adultery, which the Supreme Court struck down in 2018, and the provision on unnatural offences between consenting adults.