Implementation of new criminal laws (BNS, BNSS, BSA) and capacity building for e-governance in criminal justice
Implementation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, with emphasis on training and digital criminal-justice systems.
- State and Union Territory governments are responsible for notifications, rules, training, and deployment of digital applications for the new criminal laws.
- The Bureau of Police Research and Development has carried out capacity-building programmes and webinars for Master Trainers and other stakeholders across all 36 States and Union Territories.
- The iGOT Karmayogi platform hosts e-learning courses related to the new criminal laws for officials and stakeholders.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has reported implementation progress for the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. The reform matters because criminal law changes are not limited to new statutory text; they also require police training, digital systems, forensic support, and coordinated action by States and Union Territories.
The implementation story is important for UPSC because criminal justice in India is a shared administrative space. The Union government can provide frameworks, funding, and technology, but field-level enforcement depends heavily on State and Union Territory capacity.
What happened now
UPSC can frame this topic around the shift from the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 to the new criminal law framework, and around the implementation challenge of turning statutory reform into usable police, court, and forensic systems.
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