three new criminal laws
BNS, BNSS, BSA (2023)
Parliament replaced India's three foundational criminal statutes — the Indian Penal Code (1860), the Code of Criminal Procedure (1973), and the Indian Evidence Act (1872) — with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, all of which came into force on 1 July 2024.
- BNS replaces the IPC (substantive offences); BNSS replaces the CrPC (criminal procedure); BSA replaces the Indian Evidence Act (rules of evidence)
- The laws were passed by Parliament in December 2023 after examination by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs
- BNSS mandates statutory timelines, including a requirement that judgments be pronounced within 45 days of trial completion in many cases, and provisions for forensic investigation to be mandatory for offences punishable with 7+ years imprisonment
- Transitional application: offences committed before 1 July 2024 continue to be investigated and tried under the old IPC/CrPC/Evidence Act framework
● Tracked since March 11, 2026 · last seen August 25, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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