INDIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Sidharth Luthra, Aayushi Sharma Khazanchi and Sheezan Hashmi, Chambers of Sidharth Luthra
• State governments can bring their own modifications. Telangana’s Memorandum C. No. 35/NCL/2024 dt 25.06.2024 specifies the applicability of the BNSS 2023 and Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita to offences where both the date of occurrence and the registration of the crime are on or after 1 July 2024. Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS 2023) The purpose of the BNS 2023 replacing the IPC after nearly 150 years was to repeal colonial laws and “streamline provisions relating to offences and penalties”. Changing the language and reor- ganising provisions with a few notable additions and rare deletions, the BNS 2023 consists of 358 Sections in 20 Chapters, as opposed to the 511 Sections in the IPC. Prominent changes brought about by the BNS 2023 • Community service is introduced as a form of punishment and is defined to mean the work which the court may order a convict to perform as a form of punishment that benefits the community, and for which said convict shall not be entitled to any remuneration. • Fines and punishment for various offences have been enhanced, which was long over- due. • Section 377 of the IPC, which punished non- heterosexual sex, inter alia, has been deleted and goes even beyond the Supreme Court of India judgment in Navtej Singh Johar v Union of India (2018) 10 SCC 1. • Section 497 of the IPC, which criminalised adultery, has been deleted, despite a contrary recommendation of the Parliamentary Stand- ing Committee Report, 2023. • Section 48 introduced punishment for the abetment of an offence in India by a person located outside India.
Some important provisions • Community service is limited in scope and as a form of punishment applies only to the fol- lowing offences: (a) Section 202: public servant unlawfully engaging in trade; (b) Section 209: non-appearance in response to a proclamation under Section 84 of the BNSS 2023; (c) Section 226: attempt to commit suicide to compel or restrain the exercise of lawful power; (d) Section 303: theft; (e) Section 355: misconduct in public by a drunken person; and (f) Section 356: defamation. • Sections 63 to 73 deal with sexual offences. The key changes and modifications are as follows. (a) The age a woman can assert marital rape has been increased to 18; under Section 375 of the IPC, the age limit was 15 years. This change impacts those communities in India where marriage becomes valid at the age of puberty. (b) Section 69 criminalises sexual intercourse when done under the pretext of the prom- ise to marry or by employing deceitful means, making it punishable with im- prisonment for a term of up to ten years; offenders shall also be liable to a fine. (c) Although the term “suppressing identity” has not defined in the BNS 2023, it has been mentioned under the explanation of the term “deceitful means”. This section addresses situations where someone deliberately conceals their true identity or marital status to develop a relation- ship. This could involve misrepresenting marital status where a married individual might falsely claim to be unmarried or single to initiate a relationship and obtain
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