One Year of India's New Codes

When Thomas Babington Macaulay and the First Law Commission produced the draft IPC in 1837, they sought a single, accessible criminal code for a diverse colony. It finally became law in 1860, after Macaulay's death, and then travelled across the empire.

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On July 2024, India replaced its colonial-era criminal procedure code (the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; and the Indian Evidence Act) with three new statutes: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA).

The government framed this change as a shift from punitive colonial law to a more nuanced understanding of human rights, warning of hurdles in capacity, gaps in resources, and the complex picture of Indian society. The changes suggested either a reset or a recalibration of Macaulay’s codified legacy.

This article presents an overview of what changed in the first year of implementation, what shifted in the rights and police strategies, and how the debates on rights and police strategies sharpened. How did legal reforms succeed (or fail)?

The BNS, BNSS, and BSA carry a long list of textual changes. Five are worth isolating for their systemic consequences:

1. Timelines and trial management. The BNSS nudges courts toward speed: judgments should follow arguments within 30 days (extendable to 45); charges are to be framed within 60 days of the first hearing;

2. Digital-first procedure and proof. The BNSS validates electronic summons and filings, mandates videography of searches/seizures and witness depositions in many cases, and leans on forensics in serious crimes. The BSA, for its part, expressly treats electronic/digital records as primary evidence (with detailed definitions and presumptions for electronic communications and records).