Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is one of three new criminal-law statutes, alongside the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (replacing the Indian Penal Code, 1860) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (replacing the Indian Evidence Act, 1872), that together replaced India's colonial-era criminal justice framework with effect from 1 July 2024. The BNSS governs the procedural machinery of criminal justice: how an FIR is registered, how investigation and arrest proceed, how a chargesheet is filed, and how a trial is conducted. Among its notable procedural changes, the BNSS gives Zero FIR explicit statutory recognition for the first time under Section 173(1), permitting a cognizable offence to be reported at any police station regardless of where it occurred, and allowing information to be given electronically provided it is signed by the informant within three days. Section 175 provides a complainant a route to the Superintendent of Police if a station refuses to register a case. The Sanhita also introduces time-bound provisions for investigation and trial in specified categories of offences, reflecting a broader legislative push toward faster criminal-justice delivery. The BNSS is frequently invoked as the statutory anchor when newer reforms are layered on top of it, such as the 2026 Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill's Special Fast Track Courts, or state-level digital-FIR systems such as Gujarat's Cyber Financial Fraud e-Zero FIR, both of which draw their underlying registration and trial provisions from the BNSS.

• 1 Replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; came into force on 1 July 2024
• 2 One of three new codes, alongside the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam
• 3 Section 173(1) gives Zero FIR its first explicit statutory basis, applicable 'irrespective of the area' of the offence
• 4 Electronic FIR information must be signed by the informant within three days
• 5 Section 175 lets a complainant approach the Superintendent of Police if a station refuses registration
• 6 Introduces time-bound investigation and trial provisions for specified offence categories
• 7 Underpins later reforms such as Special Fast Track Courts under the 2026 Public Examinations Amendment Bill

Gujarat's Cyber Financial Fraud e-Zero FIR system operationalises Section 173(1) of the BNSS by auto-generating a Zero FIR the moment a victim reports fraud on the national helpline 1930.