Legislation is the formal process of making a law, and the resulting law itself, which is an Act or Statute. In India, the primary function of the Parliament is to create new laws, amend existing ones, or repeal old ones. The concept of codified law in India evolved from ancient customary and religious practices, through the Anglo-Hindu law introduced by the British, and finally into the modern system based on the Constitution of India. The British colonial regime initiated legislative reform with the Regulating Act of 1773 and the Indian Councils Act of 1861, which led to the codification of laws like the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The mechanism for creating a law begins with a Bill, which is a draft legislative proposal. A Bill must be passed by both Houses of Parliament—the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha—and then receive the assent of the President to become an Act. The procedure for passing Bills is detailed in the Constitution, with key provisions including Article 107 (introduction and passing of Bills), Article 108 (Joint sitting), and Article 111 (President's assent). The President may return a Bill for reconsideration, but if passed again, the President is obligated to give assent. This process connects to the principle of Rule of Law and the federal structure, where the Parliament makes laws for the whole country and state assemblies for their respective states.
Recently, the criminal law framework has undergone a major change with the replacement of colonial-era legislation. The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) was replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS). While the BNS reconstructs many existing provisions, it has also introduced amendments, such as retaining the offense of sedition under a new nomenclature in Section 152 and broadening its scope beyond the erstwhile criteria of "incitement to violence".