Proceedings For FIR Lodged Under IPC Will Be Governed By BNSS If Plea Filed On Or After July 1: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that if a FIR is lodged under IPC but the application or petition in relation to it is filed after July 01, then provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which has replaced Criminal Procedure Code, will be applicable.

The Court dismissed the petition filed on July 04 under Section 482 CrPC for quashing of FIR lodged under provisions of IPC, with the liberty to file an appropriate petition invoking the provisions of BNSS.

Justice Sumeet Goel said,

"once the altered procedural law namely BNSS has been brought in vogue, it would apply to cases initiated under IPC as well from and after the date of its commencement i.e. 01.07.2024 as well as to future proceedings except the pending appeal, application etc. as specifically stated in Section 531(2)(a) of BNSS."

The Court also summarised the following principles:

I. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 stands repealed w.e.f. 01.07.2024. Ergo; no new/fresh appeal or application or revision or petition can be filed under Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 on or after 01.07.2024.

II. The provisions of Section 4 and Section 531 of BNSS, 2023 are mandatory in nature as a result whereof any appeal/application/revision/petition/trial/inquiry or investigation pending before 01.07.2024 are required to be disposed of, continued, held or made (as the case may be) in accordance with the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. In other words; any appeal/application/revision/petition filed on or after 01.07.2024, is required to be filed/instituted under the provisions of BNSS, 2023.

III. Any appeal/application/revision/petition filed on or after 01.07.2024 under the provisions of Cr.P.C., 1973 is non-maintainable & hence would deserve dismissal/rejection on this score alone. However, any appeal/application/revision/petition filed upto 30.06.2024 under the provisions of Cr.P.C., 1973 is maintainable in law. To clarify; in case any appeal/application/revision/petition is filed upto 30.06.2024 but there is defect (Registry objections, as referred to in common parlance) and such defect is cured/removed on or after 01.07.2024, such appeal/application/revision/petition shall be deemed to have been validly filed/instituted on or after 01.07.2024 and, therefore, would be non- maintainable.

IV. Section 531 of BNSS shall apply to “revision”,“petition” as also “petition of complaint” (ordinarily referred to as complaint before Magistrate) with the same vigour as it is statutorily mandated to apply to “appeal/application/trial/inquiry or investigation” in terms of Section 531 of BNSS.

The petition was filed under Section 482 CrPC for quashing of FIR  lodged in 2023 under Section 406, 498-A of IPC and final report under Section 173 of CrPC.

After hearing the submissions, the Court considered the question, "whether the instant petition, filed on 03.07.2024, under Section 482 of Cr.P.C. is maintainable in view of the BNSS being brought into force w.e.f. 01.07.2024 and Cr.P.C. having been repealed w.e.f. 01.07.2024."

New Criminal Laws, A Significant Milestone 

Justice Goel observed, "the enforcement of the new legislated laws in July 2024 namely The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 is a significant milestone in the administration of justice in India, a revivification of the dynamism that is foundational to laws and dispensation of justice."

The new Laws will go a long way to pave way for a robust prosecution, striking balance between the State (society at large), victim as well as the accused. It will give more teeth to deterrence, justice as also the process of justice, the Court added.

"A critical analysis of Section 531 of BNSS shows that only the appeal/application/trial/inquiry/investigation pending up to 30.06.2024 shall not be affected by the repealing of Cr.P.C, 1973 & such proceedings would be adjudicated upon in terms of the provisions of Cr.P.C., 1973 itself," said the Court.

It added that, "any appeal/application/trial/inquiry/investigation instituted on or after 01.07.2024 has to be essentially adjudicated upon in terms of the provisions of BNSS."

This aspect of the matter is fortified by bare perusal of Section 4 of BNSS which clearly stipulates that all offences under BNS shall be investigated into/ inquired into/tried and otherwise dealt with according to the provisions of BNSS, the Court said.

Furthermore, Justice Goel highlighted that, "The provision as contained in Sub-Section (2) of Section 4 of BNSS further clarifies that all offences under “any other law” shall also be investigated into/inquired into/tried and otherwise dealt with according to the “same provisions”. The words “same provisions” essentially mean provisions of BNSS as referred to in sub-section 1 of Section 4 of BNSS. In other words, for offences committed under special penal statutes/laws, other than the BNS, the procedural law shall be BNSS w.e.f. 01.07.2024 subject to any specific enactment for the time being in force dealing with offences under special statutes. This, by no stretch of legal imagination, can be extended to mean that the words “any other law” would include “IPC” in its ambit."

In the present case, the Court noted that, the petition seeking quashing of FIR under IPC was initially filed on July 03, whereupon defects were pointed out by the Registry of this Court and thereafter the petition was refiled on July 04.

"The Criminal Procedure Code of 1973 stands repealed w.e.f. 01.07.2024. Therefore, the inevitable conclusion is, that the petition in hand is non-maintainable & hence deserves rejection on this score," the Court observed while dismissing the plea.

"It goes without saying that the petitioner shall be at liberty to file an appropriate petition invoking the provisions of BNSS, as and if permissible in law," added the judge.

It is worthwhile to mention that, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had recently passed its first order interpreting a provision of the newly enforced Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS).

Justice Anoop Chitkara said, "Section 531 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 explicitly specifies that pending appeals shall be disposed of or continued as if the new law had not yet taken effect, following the provisions of CrPC. The petition and the accompanying application seeking an extension of time were filed and registered in the registry of this Court when CrPC, 1973 was in force and were pending on the 1st of July 2024; hence, they would fall under the scope of section 531(2)(a) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. Therefore, based on the above, this petition shall have to be adjudicated under S. 401 of the CrPC, 1973 and not under S. 442 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023."

Mr. Ujwal Anand, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Manish Bansal, P.P. U.T. Chandigarh

Mr. Shubham Mangla, Advocate with

Ms. Diksha Sharma, Advocate for the U.T. Chandigarh.

Case Title: XXX v. XXXX

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (PH) 252