Jahanvi Agarwal
On 1st July 2024, the Jharkhand High Court took suo motu cognizance of an error in the Universal LexisNexis edition of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bare Act. The court directed the publisher to issue a corrigendum in all national and regional newspapers. A division bench comprising Justices Ananda Sen and Subhash Chand noted significant errors in Section 103 (2), related to lynching, in the Universal LexisNexis edition of the BNS Bare Act with Short Notes.
The court observed that the incorrect version of the section could have “serious implications for the interpretation and application of the law.” The correct text of Section 103 (2) states, “When a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other similar ground each member of such group shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.” However, the LexisNexis edition mistakenly used “any other ground” instead of “any other similar ground.”
The bench directed Universal LexisNexis to “immediately highlight this error and publish prominently a corrigendum along with the corrected provision in each and every national newspaper of the country published in English and also in all leading newspapers published in vernacular languages which have wide circulation in each and every state and Union Territory of the country.” The court emphasized that this publication must be given prominence to ensure it “catches the eyes of all the readers very easily.”
Furthermore, the court ordered that the Bare Acts and Criminal Manuals related to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, published by Universal LexisNexis and still with booksellers or distributors, should only be sold after the necessary corrections are made. The bench also instructed Universal LexisNexis to inform the High Court of the steps they would take to correct the copies of the Bare Acts and Criminal Manuals related to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that have already been sold and distributed to advocates, institutions, and the public.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), was passed by Parliament in December 2023, replacing the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. These new laws came into effect on Monday.
The BNS, unlike the IPC, has 358 sections. The new law recognizes 20 new crimes and increases jail sentences for 33 crimes. Starting from July 1, fresh FIRs will be registered under the new criminal laws. However, cases filed before this date will continue to be tried under the old laws until their final resolution.
These new laws aim to modernize India’s justice system, introducing provisions such as zero FIRs, online registration of police complaints, summons through electronic means like SMS, and mandatory videography of crime scenes for all heinous crimes.