Keeping Pace with Legal Change
The proposed Karnataka Crowd Control Bill, 2025 would give district magistrates broad discretion to control or dissolve gatherings of more than 500 people, impose up to three years’ imprisonment and large fines on gathering organisers, require payment for deaths caused by a stampede, and call for official training and public education.
Haryana Prevention of Public Gambling Act, 2025 modernizes century-old regulations to tackle illegal wagering and sports corruption. It defines betting and gaming, imposes stringent penalties, enables robust enforcement with presumptions and forfeiture, aiming to safeguard public order and sporting integrity.
Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, criminalizes sexual intercourse obtained through deceit, prescribing imprisonment up to seven years and a fine. It targets fraudulent inducement, ensuring accountability for deceptive practices in sexual interactions and protecting individuals from exploitation and breach of consent.
Section 68 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, penalizes sexual interactions involving abuse of authority, prescribing imprisonment up to seven years and a fine. It targets exploitation by individuals in positions of power, ensuring accountability and protecting vulnerable individuals from coercive sexual misconduct.
Section 67 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, criminalizes non-consensual marital intercourse during separation, prescribing imprisonment up to seven years and a fine. This provision strengthens protections against spousal sexual violence, ensuring accountability and safeguarding individual autonomy within marital relationships during separation.
Section 65 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, mandates rigorous imprisonment of 10 years to life and fines for rape of minors, with harsher penalties for aggravated cases, including repeat offenders or custodial rape. It prioritizes child protection, deterrence, and stringent accountability for sexual offenses against minors.
Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, prescribes rigorous imprisonment of 10 years to life and fines for rape, with stricter penalties for aggravated cases like custodial rape or repeat offenses. It emphasizes victim-centric justice, deterrence, and accountability for sexual violence.
Section 56 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, prescribes liability for abettors of offenses punishable with imprisonment. It ensures abettors face equivalent punishment for instigating or aiding such crimes, proportionate to the principal offense, reinforcing accountability and deterrence within the framework of criminal law.
Section 106 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita can be called draconian that imposed harsh punishment reaching up to ten years of imprisonment to hit-and-run drivers and two years to the careless doctors as medical and transport communities protested all over India.
Sections 9 and 10 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, provide that punishments should be just and proportionate. Section 9 avoids excessive punishment for offenses which are part of a single offense, so that an individual is punished for the composite offense and not for every component part. It also makes a distinction between offenses which are connected and offenses which are separate to provide fair sentencing. Section 10 offers relief against uncertainty so that an accused person is penalized for the lowest offense in situations of doubt. Such provisions secure justice by inhibiting harsh and unjust punishments, affirming that sentencing should be reasonable and well-balanced.
