New Criminal Major Acts is a fully updated and meticulously structured compendium that brings together India's three newly enacted criminal laws—the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (BSA)—enforced with effect from 1st July 2024. This Edition is specially designed to help readers transition seamlessly from the repealed IPC, CrPC, and Evidence Act to the new regime through side-by-side comparative study, provision-wise mapping, editorial notes, and legislative concordance tables. It serves as an authoritative reference for understanding India's most significant criminal law reform in more than 160 years, presenting the latest statutory text as amended up to date, along with essential comparative insights for interpretation, practice, and academic use.
This book is intended for the following audience:
- Judges, Magistrates & Judicial Officers interpreting and applying the new criminal statutes in courts
- Criminal Law Practitioners, Advocates & Legal Consultants handling investigation, trial, bail, evidence, and appeals
- Police Officers, Investigators & Prosecution Departments requiring clarity on changes in procedure, powers, and definitions
- Law Teachers, Researchers & Academicians analysing the shift from colonial-era laws to modernised codes
- Law Students & Bar Exam Aspirants (AIBE/Judicial Services) needing a structured comparative resource
- Policy Analysts, Think Tanks & Government Institutions studying criminal justice reforms in India
The Present Publication is the 2026 Edition, authored/edited by Taxmann's Editorial Board, with the following noteworthy features, division-wise:
- Full Text of All Three New Codes with Legislative Material
- Each code is reproduced along with its Arrangement of Sections, Statement of Objects and Reasons, Notes on Clauses, and a concise digest of the relevant Parliamentary Standing Committee Report 'at a glance', plus the Lok Sabha speech of the Home Minister delivered during passage of the Bills. This gives the reader both bare text and legislative context in one place.
- Section-wise Concordance Between Old and New Laws
- For BNS, tables show:
- IPC → corresponding BNS sections
- BNS → corresponding IPC sections
- New sections introduced in BNS
- IPC sections repealed by BNS
- Similarly, for BNSS and BSA, dual-direction tables are mapping CrPC and Evidence sections to their new equivalents, along with lists of new and repealed sections. These concordance tools make it possible to move from an old reference to the new provision at a glance.
- Section Keys and Alphabetical Keys
- A Section Key for each code (BNS, BNSS, BSA) lists important topics (e.g., culpable homicide, cyber-offences, trafficking, organised crime, electoral offences, offences against the State, public order, public servants, economic offences). It links them to section numbers in both the old and new laws.
- Alphabetical keys to the comparative study further systematise this information and are particularly useful for exam preparation and quick referencing.
- Comparative Study Chapters
- Separate Comparative Study segments examine BNS vs. IPC, BNSS vs. CrPC, and BSA vs. the Evidence Act. These chapters discuss:
- Newly defined concepts (e.g. child, transgender, organised crime, terrorist act, community service, snatching, mob lynching)
- Changes in definitions (e.g. 'movable property', 'gender', 'public servant', 'life imprisonment')
- Enhanced punishments, new minimum sentences and community service as an added form of punishment
- Omitted offences (e.g. sedition, adultery, attempt to commit suicide, 'unnatural offences') and how they are replaced or reconceptualised under the new framework
- Guide to Punishment for Offences under BNS
- A dedicated 'Guide to Punishment' provides a tabular summary of BNS offences with columns for section, nature of offence, punishment, cognizability, bailability and court of trial. This works as a ready reckoner for drafting FIRs, charges, bail applications and sentencing submissions, and for teaching or exam revision.
- Extensive Annexures & Allied Materials
- The BNSS division is supplemented with allied rules and schemes, such as:
- Delhi BNSS (Arrest Information) Rules
- Delhi BNSS (Service of Summons) Rules
- Delhi BNSS (First Information Report) Rules
- Non-Cognisable Offence Report Rules
- Detailed procedures on investigation, final report, prosecution of judges and public servants
- Rules on electronic evidence, video-conferencing and identification of case property
- Delhi Witness Protection Scheme
- These annexures transform the book into a working manual for criminal procedure in the post-BNSS era.
- Subject Indices & Cross-Referencing Aids
- Each division ends with a detailed Subject Index, allowing concept-driven access (e.g., 'bail', 'electronic record', 'organised crime', 'terrorism', 'witness protection', 'community service'). Combined with the concordance tables and section keys, this dramatically reduces research time.
The coverage of the book is as follows:
- Division One – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS)
- Concordance & Keys
- Includes tables mapping IPC ↔ BNS, highlighting new insertions (organised crime, terrorist act, petty organised crime, snatching, mob lynching) and identifying repealed IPC provisions.
- Section Key & Alphabetical Key
- Provides subject-wise grouping of offences (human body, property, State, public order, public servants, elections) with old–new mapping, along with an alphabetical key for quick topic-based navigation (e.g., dowry death, rape, defamation, trafficking).
- Comparative Study & Guide to Punishments
- Summarises significant conceptual changes, including revised sentencing (life imprisonment as natural life), introduction of community service, enhanced penalties for sexual/trafficking offences, and replacement of sedition. A detailed punishment guide lists offence-wise punishment, cognizability, bailability and the trial court.
- Statutory Text & Legislative Material
- Reproduces the full BNS text with arrangement of sections, Statement of Objects & Reasons, Notes on Clauses, the 246th Parliamentary Standing Committee Report (summary), and the Lok Sabha speech, providing legislative context.
- Division Two – Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS)
- Concordance & Keys
- Offers CrPC ↔ BNSS mapping, identifying new and repealed provisions, supported by section keys and alphabetical keys for locating themes such as arrest, investigation, charge-sheets, e-processes, plea bargaining and victim participation.
- Comparative Study & Core Procedural Reforms
- Explains key procedural reforms—community service, e-FIR and electronic summons, video-conferencing, time-bound investigation and trial, property attachment, and strengthened victim/witness protection.
- Text, Notes & Reports
- Includes full BNSS text with arrangement of sections, Statement of Objects & Reasons, Notes on Clauses, and the 247th Standing Committee Report (at a glance), plus the ministerial speech.
- Annexures & Allied Rules
- Contains Delhi BNSS Rules on arrest, summons, FIR, non-cognisable reports, community service, prosecutors, witness protection, identification of case property, and electronic evidence/video-conferencing, serving as a model framework for agencies nationwide.
- Division Three – Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (BSA)
- Concordance Tables & New Sections List
- Maps Evidence Act ↔ BSA and lists newly introduced and repealed provisions.
- Section Key & Comparative Study
- Explains modernised evidentiary principles—electronic/digital records, presumptions for electronic evidence, updated definition of 'document', and streamlined rules on relevancy and admissibility.
- Full Text with Legislative Material
- Reproduces the complete BSA text along with the Statement of Objects & Reasons, Notes on Clauses, the 248th Standing Committee Report summary, and the ministerial speech.
- Subject Index
- Enables quick access to topics such as confessions, expert evidence, electronic records, presumptions, burden of proof and documentary evidence.
The structure of the book is as follows:
- Part I | New Statutory Text – Each of the three new criminal laws presented with full text, formatting, and updated amendments
- Part II | Side-by-Side Comparative Tables – Old laws (IPC/CrPC/Evidence Act) aligned next to the corresponding provisions of BNS/BNSS/BSA
- Part III | Editorial Analysis – Notes explaining significant reforms, legislative intent, reclassification of offences, procedural innovations, and evidentiary reforms
- Part IV | Reference Aids – Concordance charts, quick-reference tables, procedural timelines, and classification notes
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