BHARATIYA NYAYA SANHITA, 2023 (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Polity)

Context: The Delhi High Court has requested the Centre to clarify its position on non-consensual sexual offences against LGBTQIA+ individuals and men under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).

Alternative protections under the BNS

• Section 36: It grants individuals the right to defend their own body or another person's body against any offence, as well as to protect property from theft, robbery, mischief, or trespassing.
• Section 38: It allows the voluntary causing of death or harm to an assailant in situations involving serious threats, such as an assault with the intent to commit rape or satisfy "unnatural lust."
• Section 140: It penalizes kidnapping or abduction where the victim is subjected to grievous hurt, slavery, or "unnatural lust," but the term "unnatural lust" remains undefined in the law.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

• Reform and Modernization: The BNS 2023 aims to overhaul India's outdated criminal justice system, proposing a replacement for the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860.
• Retained Provisions: The BNS maintains existing IPC provisions against murder, abetment of suicide, assault, and causing grievous hurt.
• New Offenses: Introduces offenses related to organized crime, terrorism, and group-led violence based on specific grounds.
• Age Threshold Increase: Raises the age threshold for victims to be considered minors in gangrape cases from 16 to 18 years.
• Sedition Removal: The BNS removes the offense of sedition from the law.
• Terrorism Definition: Defines terrorism broadly, covering acts that threaten national unity, public order, or intimidate the public.
• Prescribes death or life imprisonment with fines for terrorist acts resulting in death.
• Organized Crime: Covers organized crimes like kidnapping, extortion, contract killings, land grabbing, financial scams, and cybercrime by crime syndicates.
• Mob Lynching: Introduces offenses related to mob lynching, defined as murder or grievous hurt by five or more individuals based on discriminatory factors.