Quick Answer
On July 1, 2024, three new criminal codes replaced India’s colonial-era laws. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) replaced the Indian Penal Code, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) replaced the CrPC, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) replaced the Indian Evidence Act. Every section number changed. Your contracts, employment policies, and legal notices that cite IPC sections now reference repealed law.
If your business documents cite “IPC Section 420” or “IPC Section 498A,” they now point to a law that no longer exists. On July 1, 2024, the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act were repealed and replaced. The section numbers you have relied on for years are gone. This guide maps the changes that affect commercial operations, the renumbered sections, the new procedural rules, and the digital evidence provisions and gives you a checklist to update your documentation.
The Three New Codes: BNS, BNSS, BSA: Overview
Three separate laws replaced three colonial statutes on the same date. Each governs a distinct part of the criminal justice system.
Old Law | New Law | What It Covers | Effective Date |
Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 | Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 | Defines offences and their punishments | July 1, 2024 |
Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 | Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 | Governs investigation, arrest, trial, and procedure | July 1, 2024 |
Indian Evidence Act, 1872 | Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023 | Governs what evidence is admissible and how | July 1, 2024 |
The BNS defines what is a crime. The BNSS defines how a case moves through the system. The BSA defines what counts as proof. For businesses, the BNS matters most for contract references and policy documents, the BNSS for how complaints and investigations now proceed, and the BSA for how your digital records are treated as evidence.
Key Renumbered Sections Businesses Reference Most
The offences businesses cite most often kept their substance but changed their numbers. A contract citing “IPC Section 420” is now citing a repealed provision. The current equivalent is BNS Section 318.
Offence | Old (IPC) | New (BNS) |
Cheating | Section 420 | Section 318 |
Cruelty (to a woman by husband/relatives) | Section 498A | Section 85 |
Criminal breach of trust | Section 406 | Section 316 |
Defamation | Sections 499 / 500 | Section 356 |
Criminal trespass | Section 441 | Section 329 |
Causing death by negligence | Section 304A | Section 106 |
These six sections appear across standard business documents. Cheating (BNS 318) and criminal breach of trust (BNS 316) appear in vendor contracts, recovery notices, and fraud complaints. Cruelty (BNS 85) and defamation (BNS 356) appear in HR and POSH documentation. Causing death by negligence (BNS 106) matters to manufacturing, healthcare, and construction businesses managing safety liability.
Audit checklist, where these citations hide:
- Employment contracts and appointment letters with disciplinary clauses
- POSH policy documents and internal complaints committee (ICC) templates
- Vendor and supplier agreements with fraud and breach clauses
- Legal notice and demand letter templates
- Employee handbooks and code of conduct documents
- HR and compliance training materials
Any document drafted before July 1, 2024 that cites an IPC section now references repealed law. Altacit Global runs compliance document audits to identify and correct these citations across your document library.
What's New: Provisions With No Direct IPC Predecessor
The BNS did more than renumber. It created offences that had no direct place in the IPC, several with commercial relevance.
- Organised crime (BNS Section 111): A new standalone offence covering syndicated unlawful activity, including economic offences committed by organised groups. This brings certain financial fraud and cybercrime patterns under a specific, heavier provision.
- Terrorist act (BNS Section 113): Terrorism is now defined within the general criminal code, not only in special legislation.
- Mob lynching: Murder by a group of five or more on grounds such as race, caste, or community is now a distinct offence with defined punishment.
- Snatching (BNS Section 304): Snatching is now a separate offence, distinct from theft.
- Community service: The BNS introduces community service as a form of punishment for certain minor offences the first time an Indian criminal code has done so.
Organised crime under BNS Section 111 is the provision most relevant to corporate risk. Businesses exposed to financial fraud, data theft, or coordinated cybercrime should understand how this section changes the exposure of both the business and its directors.
BNSS: Procedural Changes Affecting Businesses
The BNSS changed how a criminal case starts and moves. Four changes affect how your business interacts with the system.
- Zero FIR (BNSS Section 173): You can now file a First Information Report at any police station, regardless of where the offence occurred. The FIR is later transferred to the station with jurisdiction. This removes the old delay of being turned away over territorial limits.
- Mandatory forensic investigation (BNSS Section 176(3)): For offences punishable by seven years or more, forensic experts must visit the crime scene and collect evidence. This raises the evidentiary standard in serious fraud and negligence cases.
- E-filing and digital processes: The BNSS provides for electronic filing of complaints, digital service of summons, and electronic record-keeping across the process.
- Defined timelines: The BNSS sets fixed timelines for investigation, framing of charges, and judgment. Courts must deliver judgment within a set period after trial concludes, reducing the open-ended delays of the previous system.
For businesses, Zero FIR and the timelines matter most. You can act faster when a fraud or breach occurs, and cases involving your business should resolve within a defined period.
BSA: Electronic Evidence and Digital Records
The BSA expanded the treatment of electronic and digital records as evidence. Under the BSA, electronic records – emails, server logs, messages, digital contracts, and CCTV footage are recognised as primary documentary evidence, not a secondary category requiring separate justification.
This changes how you should manage business records. Your digital records can now be produced as primary evidence, which raises the value of disciplined retention and the risk of poor record-keeping. If your logs, communications, and contracts are incomplete or unverifiable, your ability to prove your case weakens.
Practical implications for data governance:
- Retain digital records in a manner that preserves their integrity and traceability.
- Maintain proper metadata and access logs so records can be authenticated.
- Align retention schedules with both evidentiary needs and data protection obligations under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.
Retention and evidentiary readiness now pull in the same direction. For a DPDP-aligned data retention framework that also satisfies BSA evidentiary needs, see our guide on data retention and IT compliance.
What Businesses Should Do: Practical Checklist
Six actions bring your documentation and teams into line with the new codes.
- Audit employment contracts, POSH documentation, and compliance manuals for any IPC section references, and replace them with the correct BNS sections.
- Update legal notice and demand letter templates so they cite current provisions a notice citing repealed law invites a challenge.
- Brief your HR and compliance teams on the renumbered sections they use most and the new procedural rules under the BNSS.
- Review vendor and employee background check clauses that reference specific IPC offences.
- Strengthen digital records retention to meet the BSA’s treatment of electronic evidence and DPDP obligations.
- Consult counsel before relying on any pre-July 2024 template. Documents drafted under the old codes carry outdated citations and may not reflect the new procedural framework.
Directors carry particular responsibility here. Outdated compliance documentation and unaddressed exposure under provisions like organised crime (BNS Section 111) sit within the board’s duty of oversight – see our guide on director duties and liabilities.
Update Your Documentation With Altacit Global
Altacit Global runs compliance document audits that identify every outdated IPC, CrPC, and Evidence Act reference across your contracts, employment policies, POSH documentation, and legal notice templates and replaces them with the correct BNS, BNSS, and BSA provisions. Our teams operate from Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Coimbatore. To book a document audit, contact us at info@altacit.com.
Frequently Asked Questions: BNS vs IPC India
Q1: Does the BNS apply retroactively to offences committed before July 1, 2024?
No. The BNS applies to offences committed on or after July 1, 2024. Offences committed before that date continue to be tried under the Indian Penal Code and the old procedural rules. This is why your business cannot simply discard the IPC references ongoing matters and older incidents still run on the old law. New documents and new incidents run on the BNS.
Q2: Do all existing contracts referencing "IPC Section 420" need to be reissued?
Not always immediately, but they should be updated at the next amendment or renewal. A contract citing “IPC Section 420” now references a repealed provision. For enforceability and clarity, the correct reference is BNS Section 318 (cheating). Where a contract is actively relied upon in a dispute or renewal, update it. Altacit Global reviews and updates contract templates so your citations reflect current law.
