Amid Conflicting Opinions, Punjab & Haryana High Court Clarifies Whether All Criminal Pleas Filed After 1st July 2024 Will Be Governed By BNSS

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has settled that that appeals, applications, trial, inquiry or investigation pending since before the commencement of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) (01 July 2024) are permitted to be continued in accordance with the provisions of CrPC.

Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Harpreet Singh Brar while answering the reference question said, "If the investigations are subjudice in respect of an offence registered under the IPC, thereupons, the relevant procedural law, which is to be applied theretos, but is the former Cr.P.C. In sequel, when there is continuity of operation of the Cr.P.C., vis-a-vis investigations' which become launched in respect of an offence embodied in the former IPC. Therefore, the further sequitur thereof, but is that, the cut off date vis-a-vis the date of coming into force of the respective substantive and procedural laws i.e. 01.07.2024, but naturally assuming no relevance."

The Court added that "Contrarily, contextually, the date of commission of offence or the date of registration of the FIR, thus assuming relevance and importance, rather for all the relevant purposes including continuity of appeals, inquiries, trials, investigations and also vis-a-vis the continuity of applications claiming interim reliefs dehors such applications being filed post the coming into force of the BNSS."

"Therefore, the subjudice appeals, trials, enquiries or investigations under the Cr.P.C., become saved, from application thereovers, of the now in force procedural law i.e BNSS. Moreover, irrespective of the cut off date (supra), the width of the savings clause is to be expanded, to also cover applications, which though are not pending after the coming into force of the BNSS, but are filed after the cut off date (supra), yet in respect of an offence registered under the former penal law i.e. IPC," the division bench observed.

The Court was hearing the issue of the applicability of the BNSS, which was referred to the larger bench due to conflicting opinions by different single judges.

A single bench in RXXXX v. State of Haryana & Ors disagreed with the opinion in Axxx v. UT Chandigarh where another single judge had held 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 BNSS will be applicable.

In Axxx v. UT Chandigarh, the Single Bench had said 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 BNSS, which has replaced Criminal Procedure Code, will be applicable.

However in Rxxx case , the Court opined that the determining factor relevant for the application of criminal codes would be the date of the incident and the date when criminal law machinery was set in motion i.e. when a complaint is made before the police or the jurisdictional Magistrate (and not when the petition/ application is filed), which means provisions of BNSS will be applicable.

Mr. RaviSodhi, Advocate (AmicusCuriae),assisted by Mr. Nilimesh Baruah, Advocate

Mr. M.M.Pandey, Advocate and Mr. Umesh Pandey, Advocate

Mr. Ankur Mittal, Addl. A.G., Haryana with Ms. Svaneel Jaswal, Addl. A.G., Haryana Mr. P.P.Chahar, Sr. DAG, Haryana

Mr. Saurabh Mago, DAG, Haryana, Mr. Gaurav Bansal, DAG, Haryana and Mr. Karan Jindal, AAG, Haryana

Ms. Kushaldeep Kaur, Advocate and Ms. Saanvi Singla, Advocate

Mr. Kanishk Swaroop, Advocate for respondent No. 2.

Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. DAG, Punjab. 

Title: RAM CHANDER v. STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (PH) 137 

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