Section 1 BNSS: Short title, extent and commencement (Formerly Section 1 CrPC)

Section 1 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: Short title, extent and commencement

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

(1) This Act may be called the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023.

(2) The provisions of this Sanhita, other than those relating to Chapters IX, XI and XII thereof, shall not apply—

(a) to the State of Nagaland;

(b) to the tribal areas, but the concerned State Government may, by notification, apply such© provisions or any of them to the whole or part of the State of Nagaland or such tribal areas, as the case may be, with such supplemental, incidental or consequential modifications, as may be specified in the notification.

Explanation — —In this section, "tribal areas" means the territories which immediately before the 21st day of January, 1972, were included in the tribal areas of Assam, as referred to in paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, other than those within the local limits of the municipality of Shillong.

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 1

Section 1 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 defines the title, universal territorial extent, and statutory commencement of India's modernized criminal procedural code, repealing and replacing the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Sub-Section (1): Bharatiya: Sub-section (1) establishes the official title of the enactment as the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
Sub-Section (2): India: Under sub-section (2), the Sanhita extends to the whole of India, eliminating historic jurisdictional exceptions.
Monetary Relief & Maintenance: However, the first proviso creates a statutory exemption for the State of Nagaland and designated tribal areas of Assam (as specified in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution), providing that only Chapter IX (Maintenance), Chapter XI (Preventive action of the police), and Chapter XII (Information to the police and powers to investigate) apply automatically.
Core Legal Standard: Under the second proviso, the concerned State Government retains the discretionary power to extend any remaining chapters to these regions by official gazette notification.

Sub-section (3) appointed July 1, 2024 as the official date of legal commencement.

Key Landmark Precedents:

State of Nagaland v. Ratan Singh (AIR 1967 SC 212): The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of exempting tribal tracts from rigid procedural codes, holding that flexible procedures attuned to customary tribal administration satisfy Article 14 and Article 21.
Union of India v. Sukumar Pyne (AIR 1966 SC 1206): Affirmed that procedural enactments operate retrospectively on pending inquiries and trials unless substantive vested rights are impaired, establishing the benchmark for criminal code transitions.

Legal Commentary:

Section 1 serves as the jurisdictional baseline for every criminal prosecution under the BNSS. Practitioners appearing before courts in tribal jurisdictions must verify whether relevant sections have been formally notified by the State Government. Moreover, when interpreted alongside the savings clause in Section 531, Section 1 defines the prospective reach of the new code.