Revisiting Criminal Law Bills: An In-Depth Critical Analysis of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Bill

Abstract In an attempt to revise the criminal laws, India has introduced three new criminal law bills in the Lok Sabha in August 2023, which later received a few recommendations from the parliamentary committee and recently got a nod from the President of India. These bills have been diligently formulated after consultation with the apex court, the high courts, some of the most renowned law universities in the country, and other experts in the field. However, there have been a lot of drafting errors in the new bills. Since the time it has been introduced, it has been highly criticized by all the scholars and lawyers across the nation. The idea of overhauling the criminal law acts was to go away from the colonial law provisions and frame the laws with Indian context. The IPC will be changed after around 163 years. However, the author believes that the colonial laws remain intact in the new bills. This article has seen all the changes that new bills are cringing providing special focus to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sahinta (BNS) and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS). The author has mentioned all the changes brought in the BNS and BNSS and the critiques of the new bills.