As Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Takes Effect Today, Delhi Street Vendor First To Be Booked

The Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), along with the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), officially replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), Indian Evidence Act (IEA), and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) today. These changes aim to modernise the legal framework to ensure faster and more efficient justice.

In a first application of the BNS, an FIR was filed against a street vendor, Pankaj Kumar from Patna, Bihar, for obstructing a road near the New Delhi Railway Station. The FIR was filed after a police patrol discovered Kumar selling water bottles and gutkha, blocking the road with his makeshift stall despite repeated warnings to move.

The FIR was Filed under Section 285 of BNS that states, "Whoever, by doing any act, or by omitting to take order with any property in his possession or under his charge, causes danger, obstruction or injury to any person in any public way or public line of navigation, shall be punished with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees."

"The man was selling water, bidi and cigarettes on the street and the obstruction was causing difficulty for the public. The sub-inspector asked the man several times to remove the stall from the road, but he did not comply. The sub-inspector asked several passers-by to join the probe, but they refused. Then the sub-inspector shot a video using the E-praman application," the FIR read.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has highlighted that the objective behind these new laws is to provide "speedy justice and justice to all."

Key provisions include the requirement for judgments within 45 days of trial completion and the framing of charges within 60 days of the first hearing.

However, opposition parties, including the Congress, have criticised the rapid implementation of these changes, arguing that the process was rushed.