Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita has clause to check ‘misuse of power’ by cops

New Delhi: The Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhit replaces the Criminal Procedure Code, of 1973. The CrPC offers procedures for prosecution, arrest & bail.

The Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita makes forensic investigation a mandate for offenses punishable with an imprisonment term of 7 years or even more. The crime scenes will be visited by forensic experts for the purpose of gathering forensic evidence and recording the process. All the inquiries, proceedings, and trials are to be held in electronic mode. The production of electronic communication devices shall be allowed for the purpose of investigation, trial, or inquiry.

BNSS INTRODUCES “A NEW INSERTION” AS CLAUSE 172 IN ‘PREVENTIVE ACTION OF POLICE’

• A police officer can detain a person who resists or disregards lawful directions to prevent a cognisable offence, according to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) which came into effect on Monday.
• The BNSS, which replaced the British-era Code of Criminal Procedure, has introduced “a new insertion” as Clause 172 in ‘Preventive Action of the Police’.
• It states that people must conform to directions of the police issued in the course of preventing the commission of a cognizable offence, officials said.
• The provision allows a police officer to detain such person and produce them before a magistrate or, in petty cases, release the person as soon as possible within 24 hours, they said.
• Under the BNSS, police officials have been given a layer of immunity in cases of dereliction in carrying out duties on the orders of an executive magistrate to disperse unlawful assembly.
• In such cases, police officers cannot be prosecuted without the sanction of the government.