The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 with effect from 1 July 2024. It retains the structural framework of the CrPC but renumbers sections, introduces mandatory timelines for trials, expands electronic processes, and modifies bail provisions including for undertrial prisoners. The BNSS applies across India and governs arrest, remand, bail, charge, trial, judgment, and appeal — the full procedural lifecycle of a criminal case.

The BNSS 2023 is not merely a recodification — it is a substantive procedural reform that every criminal law practitioner and CLAT PG aspirant must map carefully against the old CrPC.

Key structural changes:

1. Section renumbering: Nearly every CrPC section has a new BNSS equivalent. For example, CrPC Section 41 (arrest without warrant) corresponds to BNSS Section 35; CrPC Section 167 (remand) maps to BNSS Section 187; CrPC Section 437 (bail in bailable offences) maps to BNSS Section 479.

2. Undertrial bail reform (BNSS Section 479): An undertrial who has served half the maximum sentence for the offence is entitled to bail — a relaxation from the CrPC regime. First-time offenders get this right after serving one-third.

3. Handcuffing permitted: BNSS Section 43(3) explicitly permits handcuffing in specified circumstances, reversing the judicial reluctance under the CrPC.

4. Electronic processes: FIRs, summons, and warrants can now be served electronically.

5. Zero FIR: Codified under BNSS — a complaint can be filed at any police station regardless of jurisdiction.

6. Trial timelines: Judgments must be delivered within 45 days of completion of arguments; charges must be framed within 60 days of first hearing.

For CLAT PG, the examiner will present a passage from a Supreme Court ruling decided under the CrPC and ask the aspirant to apply the principle — which survives unchanged — to a fact pattern. Knowing which BNSS section now governs the same subject is the satellite fact the passage will not supply.