The Delhi Police have registered the first FIR under the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS) against a Delhi street vendor, marking a significant milestone as India transitions from its colonial-era legal framework.
The FIR was filed against the vendor after a police officer on patrol duty on Sunday night spotted a street vendor selling water bottles and gutkha on the road. His makeshift stall obstructed the road, and despite repeated requests to move it, he did not comply. Later, an office proceeded to register an FIR.
The BNS, along with Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023, replaces long-standing British-era statutes governing criminal procedure and evidence in the country.
Three new criminal laws came into effect in the country on Monday, bringing far-reaching changes in India’s criminal justice system.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) take into account some of the current social realities and modern-day crimes.
The new laws replaced the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.
From Monday, all fresh FIRs will be registered under the BNS. However, cases filed earlier will continue to be tried under the old laws till their final disposals.
The new laws brought in a modern justice system, incorporating provisions such as Zero FIR, online registration of police complaints, summonses through electronic modes such as SMS and mandatory videography of crime scenes for all heinous crimes.
The new laws have tried to address some of the current social realities and crimes and are going to provide a mechanism to effectively deal with these, keeping in view the ideals enshrined in the Constitution, official sources said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who piloted the laws, had said the new laws would give priority to providing justice, unlike the colonial-era laws that gave primacy to penal action.
“These laws are made by Indians, for Indians and by an Indian Parliament and marks the end of colonial criminal justice laws,” he had said.
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