The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, is an Act of Parliament that serves as the official criminal code of the Republic of India, replacing the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860. The BNS was passed by Parliament in December 2023 and received the President's assent on December 25, 2023, with the aim of modernizing and "decolonizing" the criminal justice system. The IPC, drafted by Lord Macaulay, was seen as a relic of British rule that focused on control rather than citizen-centric justice, which the BNS seeks to address.
The BNS, which comprises 358 sections across 20 chapters, largely retains the core structure and many provisions of the IPC, but introduces significant changes. A key change is the replacement of the offense of Sedition (IPC Section 124A) with a new provision, Section 152, which criminalizes "acts endangering sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India". The Sanhita explicitly criminalizes mob lynching for the first time under Section 103(2), where murder is committed by a group of five or more persons. It also introduces new offenses for organized crime and terrorist acts, which were previously addressed only under special state or central statutes like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The BNS connects to two other major pieces of legislation that were enacted simultaneously: the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which replaces the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023, which replaces the Indian Evidence Act. The BNS also introduces community service as a form of punishment for certain minor offenses, such as theft of property worth less than ₹5,000. Furthermore, it codifies the offense of sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means or false promise of marriage under Section 69. The BNS came into effect on July 1, 2024.