NEW CRIMINAL PROVISIONS: REFORM OR REBRANDING?

India’s criminal law tradition has entered a new chapter with the recent commencement of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023(BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshaya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA). These codes have replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively. In doing so, the Government has declared it to be a historic step in the “decolonisation” of criminal law, and pledged to usher in a “new era of citizen-friendly, technology-enabled and justice-delivering criminal law system”. While there is no doubt that this legislative shift marks a significant milestone in India’s long-standing criminal jurisprudence, there is also little doubt that this reform exercise has been more symbolic than substantive. India’s new criminal laws make some important procedural changes, but leave much of the substance untouched. This begs the question: “Has India had a change of its criminal law system, or has it only changed the labels?”