All three laws had got the approval of the Parliament on 21 December last year and President Draupadi Murmu had also given his assent to these laws on 25 December.
The Indian Evidence Act 2023, the Indian Civil Protection Code 2023 and the Indian Judicial Code 2023 will come into force from July 1, 2024. pic.twitter.com/KFPMYooY6u
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) February 24, 2024
According to three notifications issued by the Union Home Ministry, the provisions of the new laws will come into effect from July 1. These laws will replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872.
New laws will replace old laws
The special thing is that the Indian Justice (Second) Code, the Indian Civil Defense (Second) Code, and the Indian Evidence (Second) Bill, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) of 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872 Act (IEC).
While presenting them in Parliament last year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the new laws emphasize Indianness, the Indian Constitution and the welfare of the people. He said that the new laws encourage the use of technology and give more importance to forensic science in investigation, prosecution and judicial system.
Shah had claimed that the Indian criminal justice system would become the most advanced in the world in five years after all the systems under the three laws were implemented.
Set to replace the IPC, the BNS has reformed key aspects of the criminal law in keeping with changing times, including 'community service' as punishment for petty theft and inclusion of transgender in the definition of gender.
The new laws will expand the scope of terrorism and provide for death penalty for mob lynching and rape of minors. Under the new laws, adultery, homosexual sex and attempted suicide will no longer be considered crimes.
The sedition law has been repealed and replaced by a new section that criminalizes acts that threaten the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
