Author Details:- Aastha Sameer Chawan 2nd Year BLS LLB Shriman Bhagojiseth Keer Law College SBKLC,Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.

Introduction

The Indian legal system has undergone tremendous metamorphosis in the last decade. Some changes have been initiated to ensure that laws can meet the demands of events and the challenges of society. Such landmark changes are now the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanghita of 2023. The first was due to massive protests raging across the nation after the Nirbhaya case. The second is a comprehensive rewrite of the colonial-era IPC. This analysis aims to highlight the similarities and dissimilarities between each of these statutes on the basis of the following: origin, scope, definitions, procedural reforms, sentencing framework, victim-related provisions, criticism, and implications to the Indian criminal justice system.

1. Historical and Legislative Background

1. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act

The CLA 2013 was enacted in the wake of the most brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old girl that had taken place in Delhi in December 2012. The process of what is now referred to as the Nirbhaya case brought protests across the country for more stringent laws against sexual violence. This led to the formation of the Justice Verma Commission, which was tasked with recommending proposals for legal reforms. The report of the Justice Verma Committee provided the basis for CLA 2013, which aimed primarily to widen the definitions of sexual offenses, to increase penalties, and to enhance accountability with regard to the handling of the offense.

• Inclusion of concepts such as non-penile penetration and other acts within the definition of rape.
• Criminalization of marital rape.
• Police accountability in terms of ensuring friendly survivor statutes.
• While many of the recommendations were not fully implemented, that did not change the fact that CLA 2013 was a symbol for a major shift to deal with sexual violence.

2.  The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

BNS 2023 Dream Presentation: In this regard, the BNS 2023 was brought amid a slew of recent measures taken by the government to indigenize codes, namely the IPC, CrPC, and the Indian Evidence Act. It was part of the initiatives to update the historians’ laws, remnant traces of colonial rule, into more modern realities and, largely, into contemporary Indian realities. It is indeed a holistic reform of the criminal law system, focusing on redefining various crimes, simplifying legalese, and victim-centric technology-driven approaches as opposed to CLA 2013, which only included sexual offenses.

The BNS has the following enlarged vision of the reform in criminal justice streamlining:

• Simplifying legal procedures.
• Improving judicial productivity.
• Assimilating digitalization and modern devices in combating new offences.

• Scope and Coverage of Sexual Offenses

3. Expanding Definitions

CLA 2013: The Act enlargement the definition of rape under Section 375 IPC, including the:

• Non-penile penetration.
• Inserting other objects or body parts, excluding the penis.
• Oral sex and other forms of illicit intercourse.
• It made stalking (Section 354D IPC), voyeurism (Section 354C IPC) and sexual harassment (Section 354A IPC) as crimes and defined those offenses.
• It is also punishable by establishing specific acid attacks (Sections 326A and 326B IPC).

BNS 2023: BNS will take off from these provisions, introducing many brand-new aspects:

• Wider definitions for sexual offenses, including crimes via the internet and by use of technology.
• Stalking and sexual harassment will be gender-neutral offenses, meaning victims of either party could have access to the justice system.
• Stricter provisions of crimes like voyeurism and revenge porn.

2. Marital Rape

CLA 2013: Marital rape has been criminalized only for a few limited situations, for example, the word from husband-and-wife separation (Section 376B IPC). The larger dimension of the issue of marital rape remained unsolved as the government cited public and cultural sensitivities.

BNS 2023: The BNS is fairly conservative and does not say anything about marital rape per se. Its emphasis on consent and gender neutrality leaves the way open for reinterpretation by progressive judicial constructions.

• Procedural Reforms

1. Registration of Complaints

CLA 2013: The Act empowers police officers to file FIR in different cases of sexual violence. It punishes the police officers with imprisonment under Section 166A IPC for noncompliance. This legislation addresses the general apathy of law enforcement towards the complaints of sexual violence, particularly from marginalized communities.

BNS 2023: BNS has now expanded this mandate to include e-FIRs and mechanisms therein for reporting complaints in the digital space. There progresses towards lowering the barriers to also the very registration of crime and of course ensuring speedy filing of complaints.

2. Fast-Track Trials

CLA 2013: Fast-track trials were one very important and progressive step under the Act, yet, the framework had an adverse effect owing to insufficient infrastructure and notifications in appointments of judges. Special fast-track courts to try rape and sexual assault cases were to be established under the Act.

BNS 2023: BNS establishes an even stricter assessment of timelines for investigations and trials. Accordingly, these serious crimes will in future be investigated within 120 days and tried within 180 days unless exceptional circumstances provide for exceptions. Digital evidence management, videoconferencing, and other developments contribute to more efficient and effective responses to those charged with crime.

• Sentencing Framework

1. Aggravated Sentences

CLA 2013: This has typically been a more punitive regime for sexual offenses as directed towards remorseless deterrence action.

• Rape: At least 10 years’ imprisonment with a maximum life term
• Ganging upon rape for the life term: At least 20 years
• Death: applied to habitual offenders or aggravated offenses. An acid attack, stalking, and voyeurism: therefore, fixed punishments.

BNS 2023: Administer these harsh punishments above-fisted by BNS from a sentencing balance perspective.

• Habitual offenders are subjected to aggravated punishment.
• Restorative justice and rehabilitation have been applied to lesser crimes to emphasize the rehabilitative rather than the retributive perspective.

2. Conceiving New Crimes

CLA 2013: The law generally dealt with the old manner of sexual violence, with few laws addressing technology-enabled crimes.

BNS 2023: With reference to the change in crimes, it is stated that crimes through the internet such as stalking, cyberbullying, and revenge pornography would be dealt with very severely. This speaks for the glaring need of the law to address the challenges of the contemporary world.

• Victim-Centric Provisions:

1.  Privacy and Dignity : This Act made robust provisions to ensure features of privacy and dignity in respect of survivors, including the following: Clause 4: Prohibiting disclosure of the survivor’s identity in public domains in tests to determine whether one has been raped: “two-finger test” – forced an investigation at the cost of dignity for survivors.

BNS 2023: The BNS, in addition to the above, would include the technological protection features for particularly trial proceedings and the presentation of evidence. Also, emphasizing procedural dignity and avoidance of the same survivor being subjected to re-victimization in the course of the judicial process, are provided.

BNS 2023: In this line, the BNS goes beyond providing coverage in the areas of the compensation and including provisions concerning counseling, rehabilitation, and psychological assistance to victims.

CLA 2013: The Victim Compensation Scheme under the Act was meant to provide financial assistance to survivors of sexual violence this is because such crimes have long-lasting physical and emotional as well as economic repercussions.

6. Innovations and Modernizations

1. Digital Integration

CLA 2013: The Act was a progressive step; however, it did not consider reforms based on technology or digital integration in the procedures.

BNS 2023: BNS is an age and a completely new paradigm:

• Digital submission of complaints and evidence.
• Video conferencing for the hearings and testimony.
• The use of artificial intelligence and data analytics in investigations. 6.2 Gender Neutrality

CLA 2013: Evidently, the Act was designed for the women only; it gave voice to the women’s concerns on the social scenario in the year 2013. Simultaneously, it neglected the male and transgender victim who suffer from a similar offence.

BNS 2023: BNS, being gender neutral in its provisions in several cases of stalking, sexual harassment, and voyeurism, allows different experiences of victims by including them within the domain of legal protection.

7. Critiques and Confronts

CLA 2013: All necessary provisions available but the issue of implementation is that it is mostly unaddressed due to the inadequate infrastructure, lack of accountability as far as police is concerned, and delays in judiciary.

Marital Rape: One-fifth of its criminalization was seen as an opportunity strangled in its infancy to face the established issue of societal concerns.

BNS 2023

Temporal Hurdles: The current law will replace IPC as BNS with many upgrading burdens on law training, law enforcement, judiciary, and all practitioners of law.

Ambiguities: Although the BNS in the current exercise is progressive, it has some of its provisions, like those on marital rape, extremely ambiguous and thus susceptible to different constructions.

8. Political Connotations Within the Criminal Justice System

CLA 2013 : In the very sense, this CLA of 2013 became a turning point in anaesthetizing, to some extent, sexual violence in India. It implied survivor-centric laws, although not limited to this, would emphasize speedy and stringent legal responses toward the crimes done to women.

BNS 2023 : The BNS is Europe’s criminal justice system considering, in a positive aspect, the creation of a more coherent, inclusive, and victim-centered legal framework basically through the modernization of old British laws; these would mainly consist of some New Principles taking control.

During the middle years of the 1900s, the world saw a number of great changes. The 13th of December, the proclamation day of the Constitution of India, thus gave birth to two very different but highly interrelated approaches, stages of age-old legal reforms in India. While CLA was born to meet the immediate demands of popular justice in the wake of Nirbhaya, BNS is a vision for a very coherent and modern future. Taken together, it expresses the extent of India committing itself toward an accessible and progressive criminal justice system.

9. Law and Public Opinion: The Evolution of Legislation

CLA 2013: It was public anger and protests over the Nirbhaya incident that led to the Amendment. It showed how mass popular movements, even with media advocacy, can really goad legislature. The CLA 2013 was brought up in response to demands of rights concerning tougher laws about violence against women.

BNS 2023: Contrary to CLA 2013, which only came as legislative reaction, BNS 2023 reflects envisioning legal reform in the long run; indeed, public opinion has a guiding role, but BNS springs primarily from governmental initiatives toward the decolonization and modernization of India’s legal regime. As such, it is devoid of any real public participation in drafting, which gives rise to apprehensions on inclusivity.

1. The Approach to Rehabilitation and Reform

 CLA 2013: While CLA 2013 was all about punitive measures, it served as an important deterrent by bringing in harsher punishments for sexual offenses. But this legislation failed to have much room for the consideration of rehabilitation for the offenders-or even survivors-and thus stands in clear need of criticism in view of its whole act.

BNS 2023: The BNS has all hallmarks of rehabilitative justice. Its provisions probably open up the possibility of first offenders being enrolled in correctional programs within case terms of less severity. Victim support mechanisms-such as counseling and therapy-are also present, indicating a mixture of deterring-from the punitive side-and reformative aspects.

1. Technological and Cyber-Crime Innovations.

CLA 2013:  One of such lacunas was the law not being directly applicable to cyberspace crimes, specifically to name a few cyberstalking or revenge pornography and online harassment. There was also the challenge of penetration in and out understanding of cybergistics in 2013.

The BNS 2023: It criminalizes online stalking, viewing without consent, or identity theft. It sets itself apart from individual CLA 2013 because of the adaptation to the new digital age through digital tools for gathering evidence, receiving e-FIRs, and running trials online.

1. Emerging Crimes Codification

CLA 2013: CLA 2013 has examined some of the emerging issues during its time like stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks, etc. Apart from these emerging issues, however, it mainly concentrates on crimes against women and does not do much to fill in the gaps for more society-related offenses.

BNS 2023: The definition of emerging crimes will also include acts as mob lynching, organized crime, communal violence, which were covered under the existing general and stale provisions but will now get expanded under the BNS. This will make BNS a more comprehensive and futuristic legislation.

An individual man at house kissing but turning away from evil involved in secret actions that may appear sinful to outside eyes: when the now bodiless man form of sin cannot waive its tentacles of deceit towards ideals unattainable by action, such body parts are slapping against wet tongues.

1. Gender and Inclusivity

CLA 2013: The design of CLA however saw it through the area of women efforts where it mainly concentrated, especially alarming with regard to the levels of incidence of gender violence. It did not address male and transgender victims of such crimes, thus making it gender specific and limiting its horizon.

BNS 2023: In this respect, BNS heads towards an all-inclusive gender-neutral term crime like stalking, sexual harassment or voyeurism. This defines such actions in such way that it becomes possible for persons of all genders to pursue a legal avenue. Critics counter that this generality may end up watering all the efforts at targeted redress of violence against women.

1. Wording Consistent with the International Norms

CLA 2013: This Act aimed at bringing India’s legal framework in conformity with international norms especially with respect to gender justice in response to conventions like the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). It defined rape widely and implicitly criminalized actions like stalking and voyeurism-an important aspect of bringing the law in line with global best practices. The criticism that it unsuccessfully criminalized marital rape leaves it short indeed of international standards.

BNS 2023: Aiming to establish the new India as a progressive legal system, the BNS would obviously incorporate principles of justice, fairness, and efficiency. It addresses emerging crimes like cyber offenses, but engages issues such as marital rape or the death penalty, which are likely to be still far from being cured, calling into question to what extent it really augurs well in keeping pace with developing global human rights standards.

1. Effects on Marginalized Communities

CLA 2013: The Act has indeed made some positive strides in adding worth to the crimes committed against women; however, it was critiqued for omitting the clear intersectionality of gender, caste, and class. For example, while strengthened provisions have turned the tide for many, Dalit women continued to bear the brunt of systemic barriers to access justice despite being the most affected by extreme levels of sexual violence.

BNS 2023: For instance, its overarching scope offers the promise of progress; however, effective implementation remains key. On the other hand, it may fail to address caste-based and socioeconomic discrimination in the justice system. However, critics believe that the BNS dwells on the victims while modernizing the procedural framework.

• Conclusion

It thus consists of Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023-two legislative milestones in different organic forms representing responses to changing social needs through the notion put forward by it. In other words, CLA 2013 was more or less a nationalistic reaction to the crisis hitting the nation while bringing all sense of urgency and gravity of gravity on the gender-based issue..

On the other hand, the BNS 2023 heralds a visionary reconstruction of the colonial-bound criminal justice system. It has renovated outdated provisions, passed through applications of gender-neutral terms, and transformed elements pertaining to cyber crimes. With many other missions, it speaks to a holistic and inclusive legal system. It has looked at digital integration, procedural efficiencies, and site rehabilitation that suit the fast-paced requirements of a changing society. Yet, as it sounds good, this also has been under attack as ambiguous on few entrenched social issues like marital rape and the overall challenge of moving away from an established system.

Put them together, and they would tell you the journey that India has taken from fulfilling immediate societal needs to a futuristic redesign of its justice system. CLA 2013 laid the groundwork in giving victim protection and accountability. The punishing legacy of the BNS 2023 would talk about modernization and inclusivity while both would also speak of a justice system that is punitive, reformative, responsive, and reflective of contemporary realities.

Ultimately, the success of any legal reform, in reality, depends on how well it is going to be implemented and then fine-tuned to suit the conditions prevalent. Further, the law will keep on being a marker of the fact that in this society, where transformation occurs, it must include justice, equality, and of course dignity for all.

It continued to define sexual offenses, introduced some victim-centric protections, and established the foundation on which women could have their rights on the terms of law. It was, however, in the main the apparatus of responding tool with partial execution processes and not sufficiently broad enough to address the more systemic inequities or the crime on the horizon.

• Footnotes

1. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 was enacted following the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee, constituted in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya case in December 2012. The Gazette of India: Extraordinary, Part II, Section 1, March 2, 2013.
2. The Justice Verma Committee Report (January 23, 2013) provided a comprehensive set of recommendations to reform laws on sexual violence and promote gender justice lawcommissionofindia.nic.in.
3. Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, as amended by the CLA 2013, expanded the definition of rape to include non-penile penetration and other forms of sexual assault.
4. The introduction of Sections 354A to 354D under CLA 2013 criminalized offenses like sexual harassment, voyeurism, and stalking, providing a legal framework for addressing non-physical forms of sexual violence.
5. Acid attacks were for the first time explicitly penalized under Sections 326A and 326B IPC, with stringent punishments ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.
6. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023 was introduced in Parliament to replace the Indian Penal Code of 1860, signaling a shift toward decolonizing Indian criminal law. Lok Sabha Secretariat Document, August 11, 2023.
7. Section 63 of the BNS 2023 broadens the definition of sexual offenses, including provisions for technology-facilitated crimes like cyberstalking and revenge pornography.
8. Gender neutrality in the BNS 2023 ensures that offenses like stalking and sexual harassment can be addressed irrespective of the victim’s gender, a significant departure from the CLA 2013.
9. The CLA 2013 mandates fast-track trials for rape cases; however, judicial delays and inadequate infrastructure have often hampered its implementation. State of Maharashtra v. Chandrabhan Sudam Sanap (2015).

The BNS 2023 emphasizes the use of technology, such as digital filing of complaints (e-FIRs) and video conferencing for hearings, aiming to improve accessibility and efficiency.