Reviewed and updated by Century Law Firm, Delhi \u2013 October 2026. Statutory references are to the Acts as in force on that date. The three Acts are quoted from their India Code texts (as on 6 October 2025), the history of the Bills from the Statements of Objects and Reasons printed with the Acts, India Code’s legislative history and the releases of the Press Information Bureau, and the old-to-new section pairs from the firm’s comparison data checked against the Gazette text.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat are the three new criminal laws?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Each of the three laws is an Act of Parliament of 2023, dated 25 December 2023, and each states its purpose in its long title. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is “An Act to consolidate and amend the provisions relating to offences and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.” Its last section repeals the old penal code: “The Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) is hereby repealed.” The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is “An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to Criminal Procedure.” and Section 531(1) says: “The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) is hereby repealed.” The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 is “An Act to consolidate and to provide for general rules and principles of evidence for fair trial.” and Section 170(1) says: “The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872) is hereby repealed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Hindi, as printed in the Gazette, the three Acts are the \u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924\u0940\u092f \u0928\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092f \u0938\u0902\u0939\u093f\u0924\u093e, 2023, the \u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924\u0940\u092f \u0928\u093e\u0917\u0930\u093f\u0915 \u0938\u0941\u0930\u0915\u094d\u0937\u093e \u0938\u0902\u0939\u093f\u0924\u093e, 2023 and the \u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924\u0940\u092f \u0938\u093e\u0915\u094d\u0937\u094d\u092f \u0905\u0927\u093f\u0928\u093f\u092f\u092e, 2023. The evidence law is an “Adhiniyam”, not a “Sanhita”: India Code lists no Act called the “Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita”, and the short form of the evidence law is BSA, not BSS. Searches also sometimes mix up the names, as in “Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita”; the three correct names are the ones given above. The abbreviations BNS, BNSS and BSA do not appear in the Acts themselves, but the Government uses them, for example in the Press Information Bureau’s release of 26 March 2025 on the replacement of the Indian Penal Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The old laws were not all of the same age. The Indian Penal Code was enacted in 1860 and the Indian Evidence Act in 1872, during British rule. The Code of Criminal Procedure that the BNSS replaced was the Code of 1973 (Act 2 of 1974). The new laws are also arranged differently. The BNS has 358 sections in 20 chapters, against 511 sections in the Indian Penal Code; the BNSS has 531 sections in 39 chapters and two Schedules, against 484 sections in the Code of Criminal Procedure; and the BSA has 170 sections in 12 chapters and one Schedule, against 167 sections in the Evidence Act. (The counts for the old laws are those given by the Home Minister in the Lok Sabha on 20 December 2023, as reported by the Press Information Bureau.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the 2023 Bills to the Acts in force<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The three laws reached the statute book in two rounds of Bills. The first versions were introduced in the Lok Sabha on 11 August 2023 by the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023. The Press Information Bureau’s release of that day records his statements in the House, among them that “A total of 313 changes have been made in this law” and that “now anyone will be able to get justice within a maximum of 3 years”. Those were the Government’s description of the Bills and its aims for them; they are not rules found in the Acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Standing Committee and the withdrawal of the first Bills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Statement of Objects and Reasons printed with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita tells what happened next: “The Bill was referred to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs for its consideration and report. The Committee after deliberations made its recommendations in its report submitted on 10th November, 2023. The recommendations made by the Committee have been considered by the Government and it has been decided to withdraw the Bill pending in Lok Sabha and introduce a new Bill incorporating therein those recommendations made by the Committee that have been accepted by the Government.” The Statement printed with the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam records the same course for the evidence Bill. According to a release of the Ministry of Law and Justice of 2 February 2024, the Committee’s recommendations were in its Reports No. 246, 247 and 248, submitted on 10 November 2023, on the three Bills respectively. Replying to the debate in the Rajya Sabha on 21 December 2023, the Home Minister said that “72 percent of the non-political suggestions of the committee have been accepted.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The “(Second)” Bills, their passage and the President’s assent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In December 2023 the first Bills were withdrawn and revised Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha: the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023. India Code’s legislative history of each Act gives the date of re-introduction as 12 December 2023 (as Bills No. 173, 174 and 172 of 2023 respectively), while the Law Ministry’s release of 2 February 2024 gives 19 December 2023. The Lok Sabha passed the three Bills on 20 December 2023 and the Rajya Sabha on 21 December 2023. They received the President’s assent on 25 December 2023 and, in the words of the Law Ministry’s release, “were notified in the Gazette of India on 25.12.2023.” They became Act No. 45 of 2023 (BNS), Act No. 46 of 2023 (BNSS) and Act No. 47 of 2023 (BSA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commencement on 1 July 2024<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Passing an Act did not bring it into force. Each of the three Acts left the date of commencement to the Central Government, to be appointed “by notification in the Official Gazette”; the BNS adds in Section 1(2) that “different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Sanhita.” By three notifications dated 23 February 2024, S.O. 850(E) for the BNS, S.O. 848(E) for the BNSS and S.O. 849(E) for the BSA, the Government appointed 1 July 2024. According to India Code’s footnotes, the BNS notification excepted “the provision of sub-section (2) of section 106”, and the BNSS notification correspondingly excepted the entry for Section 106(2) in its First Schedule. The Ministry of Home Affairs’ year-end review of 2024 confirms that “The new laws came into force on 1st July 2024.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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