Caption Sheets After 1 July 2024: Date of Offence, Not Date of Drafting
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024, repealing the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Your office is preparing caption sheets for four matters: (i) an FIR registered on 26 June 2024 alleging cheating of Rs 4,00,000; (ii) an FIR registered on 3 July 2024 alleging the same offence; (iii) an FIR registered on 28 June 2024 alleging cruelty by a husband and his relatives, in which the complainant states that the harassment continued until 15 July 2024; and (iv) a bail application filed on 6 August 2024 in the 26 June case, captioned 'under Section 439 CrPC'. The Section Officer wants all four captions changed to the new Sanhitas because 'the old laws no longer exist', and asks you to initial the change.
1. State the correct statutory frame for matters (i), (ii) and (iii), with reasons.
Read the worked answer
The test is the date of the act constituting the offence, not the date of the caption sheet or of the trial.
- (i) IPC. Registration on 26 June 2024 precedes commencement. The repeal-and-savings provisions (Section 358 BNS and Section 531 BNSS) preserve the repealed law for offences committed before that date, and Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 carries the same principle. Cheating is charged under the IPC section then in force.
- (ii) BNS. The offence is alleged on or after 3 July 2024, so the Sanhita governs from the start.
- (iii) Mixed, and it must be shown as mixed. Acts of cruelty before 1 July 2024 fall under the IPC; acts from 1 July to 15 July fall under the corresponding BNS provision. A single undifferentiated citation either way misdescribes part of the conduct. The honest caption sets out date-wise particulars and cites both, leaving the Magistrate to apply the savings clause at cognizance.
2. How should matter (iv) be captioned, and why does it matter?
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The bail application arises in a case registered on 26 June 2024, before commencement. Under the savings clause, proceedings already governed by the CrPC continue under it. The bail jurisdiction invoked is therefore Section 439 CrPC, corresponding to Section 483 BNSS.
The prudent caption reads 'under Section 439 CrPC (corresponding to Section 483 BNSS)' so that the Bench, the registry and the accused's counsel are all looking at the same provision. Do not silently convert the caption to Section 483 BNSS: a bail order passed on a caption that misstates the governing statute invites an objection at the very hearing it was meant to secure.
The point is not pedantry. Bail orders are executed immediately; a caption error can be raised by a suretor, by the jail, or in appeal, and it delays release.
3. Draft the two-line office note you would place on the file in response to the Section Officer's instruction to change all four captions.
Read the worked answer
'The Sanhitas commenced on 1 July 2024 and do not govern offences committed before that date; by virtue of the repeal-and-savings provisions, matters (i) and (iv) continue under the IPC and CrPC, matter (ii) falls under the BNS, and matter (iii) is date-wise partly under each. Captions have accordingly been corrected, not uniformly converted, and the file is put up for perusal before initialling.'
The note does three things: it states the rule, it applies the rule to each numbered item so the Section Officer can check it, and it records that the change was considered and refused on law. Refusing an instruction in writing, with reasons, protects both the officer who gave it and the assistant who declined it.