Three bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha that sought to repeal and replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. This document is a substantive analysis of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023, which aim to assess major changes being proposed to criminal procedure and evidence as they exist in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively. In this substantive analysis of provisions, fourteen issues have been analysed in-depth. Other changes that do not receive a detailed assessment have been identified for the reader’s convenience. The document also contains a comparative table towards the end that captures the introduction or modification of timelines through the BNSS for different stages of the criminal procedure under the CrPC.
