420 loses its sting, murder moves up to 101 | India News – Times of India

For generations, ‘420’ meant cheating and often became a common taunt for people who failed to deliver on their promise. The section in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that inspired the title of the iconic Raj Kapoor movie Shree 420 is now listed as Section 316 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which seeks to replace the 163-year-old law.

The changes are not limited to Section 420 but extend to Section 302 – murder – which will now be Section 101 of the proposed new law. Similarly, Section 144 of the IPC dealing with illegal assembly is now proposed to be brought under Section 187.
At the time of release of Rules, the government will give reference to the relevant sections of the IPC for convenience. Over the years, with the addition of new sections and sub-sections, the penal code had become bulky. The rewrite is an attempt to make the law more contemporary and crisper.

“From time to time, serious incidents like the Nirbhaya rape case and court judgments have led to amendments in the three major criminal laws. But while changes were made they were piecemeal in nature,” a government source said.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita will have 356 sections, instead of the 511 the IPC had, with 175 of them amended. Eight new sections have been added and 22 have been repealed, the government said. Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita to replace the nearly 40-year-old Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam in place of the Indian Evidence Act, will have more sections, and they have been made more relevant, including getting rid of several colonialera words from the latter.
One of the highlights is the use of illustrations. Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita gives examples to help explain how the provisions related to offences such as defamation or trespass are meant to be used.
In the recently enacted Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the government had followed a similar model. Besides, offences have been clubbed and rearranged and some such as crime against women and children have been given special attention with the use of technology being the other dominant theme.
The idea is to make life simpler for citizens through the use of technology – be it filing of electronic FIRs or zero FIRs, outside the jurisdiction of the police station where the offence has been committed, but within the state.