FIR For Offences Committed Before July 1 2024 To Be Lodged Under IPC Even After Enforcement Of BNS: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has clarified that for a crime committed before July 1, 2024—the date when three new criminal laws came into effect—if an FIR is filed on or after July 1, the provisions/offences of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) will have to be invoked, and in such cases, the offences outlined in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) will not apply. The Court, however, clarified that for such FIRs lodged after July 1, 2024, for offences under the IPC (as crime committed before July 1), the applicable procedure should be as prescribed in the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and not the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).A bench of Justice Arun Monga made these observations while refusing to quash an FIR registered on July 27, 2027, for the alleged commission of offences under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC. In its 18-page order, the Court heavily relied upon the Allahabad High Court's recent ruling in Deepu and 4 Others vs. State Of U.P. and 3 Others 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 517 wherein the HC has summarised the law regarding the effect of repealing the IPC and CrPC by BNS and BNSS, respectively.Importantly, in another case decided by the same judge (Justice Monga), it was held that where an FIR is registered under Section 154 of CrPC before July 1, 2024, the entire subsequent investigation procedure and even the trial procedure concerning that FIR shall be governed by CrPC and not BNSS. This view is at odds with the opinion rendered by the Punjab & Haryana HC in the case of XXX v. State of UT, Chandigarh 2024 LiveLaw (PH) 252. The case in brief The petitioners, the accused in the FIR, and the complainant (respondent No. 2) are family members involved in a dispute concerning the estate of their late paternal grandmother, who was the mother of the complainant. The complainant, who is the chacha of the petitioners, claimed that his two nephews (petitioners) forged their grandmother's Will and, following her death, fraudulently transferred the property into their names in the revenue records after conspiring with the revenue officials. Challenging the FIR, the counsel for the petitioners argued before the HC that since the FIR in question was registered on July 27, the offences under the BNS should have been invoked and not of the IPC, which was repealed with effect from July 1, 2024. On merits, it was argued that ex-facie, the contents of FIR do not make out the commission of any offence, and the FIR was liable to be quashed since it was a purely family dispute. On the other hand, the state counsel justified that the FIR had been rightly registered under the IPC. It was categorically argued that even though the FIR was lodged on July 27, since the date of commission of alleged offence is October 5, 2021 (when the Will was allegedly forged / created by the accused), therefore, the sections of IPC were invoked. However, the Public Prosecutor also argued that further investigation and procedural aspects would be carried out under the provisions of BNSS and not CrPC since the FIR was lodged after July 1, 2024. Against the backdrop of these submissions, the Court framed the following questions of law, noting that they needed consideration and adjudication: (a). Whether or not after enforcement of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita from 01.07.2024, an FIR can be registered under IPC for offences committed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) before 01.07.2024? (b). Whether or not qua offences committed before 01.07.2024 under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), an FIR can be registered under (BNS) after enforcement of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) from 01.07.2024? (c). Which procedure would apply to an FIR registered after enforcement of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) for offences under IPC committed before 01.07.2024? To answer the first question, the Single-judge did a combined reading of Article 20 of the Constitution of India and Section 358 of the BNS to conclude thus: “a combined reading of Article 20 of the Constitution of India and aforesaid saving provisions of section 358 of the BNS amply show that the IPC shall apply to any obligation, liability, penalty or punishment accrued or incurred before 01.07.2024…in respect of the offences committed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) before 01.07.2024, the offender can/has to be dealt with and punished under IPC even after enforcement of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita from 01.07.2024. Thus, it seems that for the offences committed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) before 01.07.2024, FIR has to be registered under the IPC.” In view of this, the Court held that if an FIR is registered on or after July 1, 2024, for an offence committed prior to that date, it has to be registered under the provisions of the IPC. As a corollary, the Court further held that qua the offences committed before July 1, 2024, under the IPC, an FIR cannot be registered under...

FIR For Offences Committed Before July 1 2024 To Be Lodged Under IPC Even After Enforcement Of BNS: Rajasthan High Court

Sparsh Upadhyay

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