The three new criminal laws—the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; and the Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita, 2023 – became effective on July 1, 2024, replacing the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; the Indian Penal Code, 1860; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. These new laws were first introduced in August 2023 and received Presidential assent in December 2023. Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code provided the punishment for murder by a life convict as: “Whoever, being under sentence of imprisonment for life, commits murder shall be punished with death.” The effect of this section was that it discriminated against life convicts and prescribed a mandatory punishment of death merely because they were under a sentence of life imprisonment for a prior offense. However, this section was held to be arbitrary and struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Mithu v. State of Punjab [(1983) 2 SCC 277] for violating Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The legislature addressed this defect in the law by enacting Section 104 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which provides the punishment for murder by a life convict as: “Whoever, being under sentence of imprisonment for life, commits murder, shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life, which shall mean the remainder of that person's natural life.” Now, under the new Act, any life convict who commits murder will receive a minimum punishment of life imprisonment for the remainder of their life. This change essentially negates the decision of the Supreme Court in Mithu v. State of Punjab by altering the impugned section. This amendment is in accordance with the decision in Baharul Islam and Others v. Indian Medical Association and Others [2023 SCC OnLine SC 79], pronounced by Justice B.V. Nagarathna: “The Legislature cannot directly overrule a judicial decision. But when a competent Legislature retrospectively removes the substratum or foundation of a judgment to make the decision ineffective, the said exercise is a valid legislative exercise provided it does not transgress on any other constitutional limitation”. It will be interesting to see if any questions are raised regarding the validity of the new section, as it still provides for a higher punishment for a murder committed by a life convict. Meghna Ponda | ANB Legal #murder #criminallaws #constitutionofindia
