Centre's Criminal Law Reforms: In A First, Community Service Proposed As Alternative Form Of Punishment For Petty Crimes

The government on Friday (11 August) tabled three bills in the Lok Sabha to replace British colonial era laws in a bid to overhaul India's criminal justice system.

Several progressive changes that are proposed in the bills include implementing community service as an alternative form of punishment for 'petty' crimes, electronic filings of FIRs and trials on video conferencing.

The proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita of 2023, one of the three bills tabled by Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha, aims to replace the existing Indian Penal Code.

The Bill introduces community service as a punishment for certain offences such as small theft, defamation, and attempting suicide to hinder a public official from performing their duties.

The statement of object and reasons of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, tabled by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, maintained that “it is proposed to provide (for the) first time community service as one of the punishments for petty offences," reports Hindustan Times.

With a significant number of prisoners being undertrials, the use of community service as a form of punishment helps keep first-time convicts and those convicted for minor offences out of overcrowded prisons.

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita of 2023, which is set to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure, allows for the filing of First Information Reports (FIRs) to the police "by electronic communication".

However, it still requires the complainant to sign the record within three days of submission.

The Sanhita allows for the entire trial, including the recording of evidence, to be conducted through video-conferencing to enable a speedy trial.

While the issue of marital rape remains untouched, the Bill proposes to include sexual intercourse with a minor wife as rape.

Currently, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) only makes one exception for marital rape, which is intercourse with a wife who is under the age of 15.

In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that this 15-year limit contradicted child rape laws under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Regarding this exception, the Bill states: “Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under eighteen years of age, is not rape", reports Indian Express.