The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 (Act No. 46 of 2023), is a central Act of Parliament that serves as the main procedural law for the administration of criminal justice in India. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11, 2023, and the final version, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023, was passed on December 21, 2023, and commenced on July 1, 2024. The BNSS was created to replace the British-era Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, with the stated aim of modernizing the system and making it citizen-centric.
The BNSS governs the procedure for investigation, arrest, prosecution, and bail. A key mechanism is the mandate for forensic investigation for all offenses punishable with seven years of imprisonment or more. It also introduces provisions for conducting all trials, inquiries, and proceedings in electronic mode. A significant change from the CrPC is the alteration of police custody rules: the maximum 15 days of police custody can now be authorized in parts at any time during the initial 40 or 60 days of the judicial custody period. Furthermore, it allows for the trial and judgment of a proclaimed offender in their absence if they have absconded.
The BNSS is one of three new laws reforming the criminal justice system, connecting directly to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 (which replaces the Indian Penal Code, 1860) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023 (which replaces the Indian Evidence Act, 1872). While it retains most CrPC provisions, it amends others, such as limiting the mandatory bail provision for undertrials who have served half their maximum sentence, by denying it to those facing multiple charges or offenses punishable by life imprisonment. The BNSS also permits the use of handcuffs in a wider range of cases, including organized crime, which has been noted as contradicting existing Supreme Court directions.