On 1 July 2024, three statutes replaced the framework that had governed Indian criminal law for well over a century. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
Much of the substance carries over under new section numbers. This note sets out the changes that most often matter to someone who reports a crime, is questioned or arrested, or has to prove a fact in court.
First, which law applies
An offence committed before 1 July 2024 continues to be defined and punished under the IPC, because the Constitution does not permit conviction under a law that was not in force when the act was done. Under the BNSS saving clause, investigations, inquiries, trials and appeals pending on that date generally continue under the old Code.
Where an older incident is reported after that date, the offence remains an IPC offence while procedure usually follows the BNSS. Transitional questions of this kind should be settled at the start of any matter.
Reporting a crime: Zero FIR, e-FIR and a free copy
Section 173 of the BNSS, which governs FIRs for cognizable offences, makes three notable changes.
- Zero FIR. Information may be given at any police station, irrespective of where the offence was committed; it is then transferred to the station with jurisdiction. A practice once encouraged by the courts is now statutory.
- e-FIR. Information may be given electronically, and is taken on record once the informant signs it within three days. An e-FIR is a starting point, not a substitute for following up in person.
- A free copy. A copy of the FIR is to be given, free of cost, to the informant or the victim.
For offences punishable with three years' imprisonment or more but less than seven, the police may, with the permission of an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, hold a preliminary enquiry of up to fourteen days to see whether a prima facie case exists. If the police decline to record information, the informant may approach the Superintendent of Police and then the Magistrate.
Once investigation begins, the police must inform the informant or victim of its progress within ninety days (Section 193).
Arrest and custody
Several safeguards have been restated or strengthened:
- Each district and police station must have a designated officer who maintains, and displays prominently (including digitally), the names and addresses of arrested persons and the offences charged (Section 37).
- Where arrest is not necessary, the police may instead issue a notice to appear. A person who complies is not to be arrested for that offence unless the officer records reasons.
- For offences punishable with less than three years' imprisonment, a person who is infirm or over sixty may not be arrested without the prior permission of an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police.
- An arrested person may have a person of their choice informed of the arrest, and may meet an advocate of their choice during interrogation, though not necessarily throughout it.
In Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra (November 2025), the Supreme Court held that every arrested person must be given the grounds of arrest in writing, in a language they understand, whatever the offence. Where that is genuinely impractical at the moment of arrest, the grounds may first be conveyed orally, but a written copy must be supplied at least two hours before production for remand. Non-compliance renders the arrest and remand unlawful. The Court directed that this procedure be followed from the date of the judgment, and High Courts have since differed on how far it reaches earlier arrests.
The fifteen-day limit on police custody remains, but those days may now be taken in parts during the first forty or sixty days of detention, depending on the offence.
Investigation: video recording and forensics
Searches and seizures, including the preparation of the seizure list, must be recorded by audio-video means, preferably a mobile phone, and the recording sent to the Magistrate without delay (Section 105). For offences punishable with seven years' imprisonment or more, a forensic expert is to visit the crime scene, with the process video-recorded, from the date each State notifies (Section 176(3)). Compliance is often a significant question at trial.
Timelines in court
The BNSS introduces deadlines the old Code did not contain, among them:
- Supply of the police report and documents to the accused, and to the victim if represented by an advocate, within fourteen days of the accused's production or appearance (Section 230).
- In Sessions cases, a discharge application within sixty days of committal, and framing of charge within sixty days of the first hearing on charge (Sections 250 and 251).
- A plea-bargaining application within thirty days of the framing of charge (Section 290).
- In Sessions trials, judgment within thirty days of the close of arguments, extendable to forty-five days for reasons recorded in writing (Section 258).
Courts carry heavy dockets, but these timelines give parties a statutory basis on which to press for progress.
Undertrial detention
Under Section 479, a first-time offender held as an undertrial is to be released on bond after detention for one-third of the maximum sentence; for others the threshold remains one-half. The relief does not extend to offences punishable with death or life imprisonment, or to a person facing proceedings in more than one offence or case.
Electronic evidence under the BSA
The BSA treats electronic and digital records, such as emails, messages and files on phones and computers, as documents. Three provisions are central:
- Where an electronic record is created or stored simultaneously or sequentially in multiple files, each such file is primary evidence (Section 57).
- A record may not be refused admission merely because it is electronic, subject to the certificate requirement (Section 61).
- A certificate in the form in the Schedule must accompany the record each time it is produced: Part A by the party producing it and Part B by an expert, both recording its hash value (Section 63).
Preserve the original device, avoid editing or forwarding messages you may need as evidence, and take advice early on how a recording or chat will be proved. In proceedings already pending on 1 July 2024, the Indian Evidence Act, including its Section 65B, continues to apply (Section 170 of the BSA).
Punishments: community service and new offences
The BNS adds community service to the forms of punishment (Section 4(f)) for six offences, including defamation (Section 356(2)) and a first conviction for theft of property worth less than ₹5,000 where the property or its value is returned (Section 303(2)). In that theft case, community service is the prescribed punishment rather than an option.
It also names offences the IPC did not, among them organised crime (Section 111), terrorist acts (Section 113), snatching (Section 304) and murder by a group of five or more acting in concert on grounds such as caste, community or language (Section 103(2)). Sedition is not carried over in its old form; Section 152 instead addresses acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
What this means in practice
- Reporting an offence: ask for your free copy of the FIR, and follow up in writing if you hear nothing within ninety days.
- Asked to appear before the police: keep a copy of any notice and take advice before you attend.
- A family member arrested: ask for the written grounds of arrest, and note the times of arrest and of production before the Magistrate.