This article argues that Section 124-A (IPC) constitutes an offence of formal strict liability but fails to satisfy the philosophical justifications of strict criminal liability. It concludes by showing how Section 150 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita Bill rectifies this defect by adding the mens rea element of knowledge or purpose.
This post analyses the implications of the newly-inserted provision criminalising making or publishing ‘false and misleading information jeopardising the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India’.
This post analyses the replacement of ‘sedition’ with the newly inserted provision seeking to penalise acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
Click to explore : Research Brief Annotated Comparison Editorials & Interviews Research Brief Bharatiya Nyaya(Second) Sanhita Bill, 2023 & Bharatiya Sakshya(Second) Bill, 2023 & Bharatiya Sakshya(Second) Bill,2023: Analysis of Key…
This post analyses the new provision prescribing punishment for ‘terrorist acts’, in light of the existing law and definitions in the UAPA.
This post analyses the newly introduced provisions penalising organised crime and their comparison with existing state organised crime legislations.
This post analyses changes introduced to the provision on death by negligence, including enhancement of punishment and obligatory reporting mechanisms.
This post analyses the issues with imposing a mandatory minimum of a whole life sentence as punishment for murder and attempt to murder by life convicts.
This post analyses concerns around the new additions for mob lynching in the provisions for murder and grievous hurt.
This post analyses the constitutive elements of the sexual offences framework envisaged by the Bill and highlights issues that emerge.
This post analyses the ambiguities brought about by Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill 2023 in defining “life imprisonment” as imprisonment for the remainder of natural life.
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. In the third installment, Project 39A has prepared the document comparing the proposed Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 with the current provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
The article borrows from the United States of America to examine whether lethal injections are an appropriate mode of execution and a feasible alternative to hanging by the neck in India.
This article proposes that the Supreme Court’s judgement in Enforcement Directorate v. Kapil Wadhawan is a well-reasoned opinion that strengthens statutory bail, whose interpretive preferences are capable of being invoked to undermine the extinguishing regime.
Can the criminal justice system, as it stands today, address complex needs and treat families of victims justly? In this podcast, Dr. Penelope Tong and Baljeet Kaur discuss the need for the criminal justice system to expand its imagination of justice for families of murder victims.
In the digital age, upholding justice is crucial, specifically in cases of NCII, where the current legal framework and terminology inadequately address the complexities, ultimately resulting in a lack of justice…The global outrage erupted in response to NCII has spurred concrete actions in various countries. India has no reason not to follow suit and can do so more efficiently
In this podcast, Project 39A’s Director (Sentencing) Neetika Vishwanath speaks to Dr. Mayur Suresh (Senior Lecturer, SOAS University of London) on his recently published book ‘Terror Trials: Life and Law in Delhi’s Courts’. The book is an ethnographic study of Delhi’s Tis Hazari court over 14 months during which Dr. Suresh followed 18 terrorism trials. In this conversation, Dr. Suresh reflects on the relevance of ethnography as a method of legal research and the value of studying everyday life in trial courts. Looking beyond the exceptionalism framework in academia that is often used to describe terrorism laws and trials, ethnography allowed Dr. Suresh to capture ways in which terror accused use legal procedures and technicalities to engage with the law.
With vast experience on a wide range of human rights issues since 1985, Enakshi Ganguly, the co-founder of HAQ: Centre for Child Rights recently published her first book, ‘Juvenile, Not Delinquents: Children in Conflict With the Law’. The book, co-authored with Kalpana Purushothaman and Puneeta Roy, is a thought-provoking account of her experience working on child rights, powerfully arguing that we have failed to support vulnerable children in their path to reform. In this conversation with Snehal Dhote, Associate (Sentencing) at Project 39A, Enakshi discusses the book as well as her thoughts on child rights discourse.
This article examines the Dharmalingam case along with the issue of prosecutorial discretion that lies at the heart of a wider critique of section 33B of the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2012 that has made the mandatory death penalty discretionary for persons convicted for being ‘couriers’ in drug trafficking cases in Singapore. It argues that the provision is both procedurally and substantively arbitrary, and creates a misleading sense of individualised sentencing for drug trafficking in Singapore.
This article seeks to provide a summary of the Supreme Court’s recent judgement dated 24.03.2023 in Arup Bhuyan v State of Assam which overruled its previous decision in Arup Bhuyan v State of Assam, (2011) 3 SCC 377.