Indeed, the Delhi Police has recorded one of the first FIRs of the newly passed BNS 2023, a law that ushers the country India out of the colonial legal regime.
The case was registered for blocking the foot over the bridge at the New Delhi Railway Station by a street vendor to conduct sales against the BNS 285. The FIR was registered after a police patrol was on duty and saw a vendor selling water bottles and gutkha, a chewing tobacco product, on the road.
His merchandise stall was hindering the traffic. The police had to intervene as the vendor ignored various warnings to shift the stall to a different location, as requested by clients and other people passing by.
Subsequently, in a press conference, Home Minister Amit Shah elaborated that although this new type of criminal law was first reported in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, the case of a Delhi street vendor accused of violating BNS was one of the first cases recorded in New Delhi.
The BNS, together with the BNSS 2023 and the BSA 2023, supersedes the archaic British colonial laws relating to Indian criminal procedure and evidence. These new laws, effective from Monday, are intended to steer wide-ranging changes in the Indian criminal justice system.
Different Namew laws include the Zero FIR, the capability to register a police complaint online, the issuance of electronic summons, and the videography of every critical crime scene.
They also aim to capture today’s societies and contemporary offenses with the intention of offering good justice, unlike the laws that were rampant during colonialism, which were more focused on punishing.
Change of law is always a cardinal step in the development or transition of any nation, and this time, it is an important step towards discovering justice in India.
