Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court rendered an interesting judgment in in XXX v. State of UT Chandigarh discussing the above provisions. Relying on the language in Section 358 of the BNS and Section 531 of the BNSS, it proceeded to hold that once the BNSS was brought into effect, it would apply to offences committed under the IPC, thus recognizing that the IPC can continue to be the substantive criminal law while the BNSS becomes the new procedural criminal law.
This interpretation is supported by Section 6(1) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, which states that the repeal of an Act would not affect anything duly done or suffered thereunder. Thus, when an offence is committed at a time when the IPC was in force, then only the IPC can be invoked for such offence. Thus, the registration, investigation and subsequent procedural steps will be taken in accordance with the new procedural legislation (BNSS) but the relevant substantive penal code would continue to be the IPC.
Notably, the above position seems to have been accepted and adopted by the Telangana Police, as can be seen from a memorandum issued by the Office of the Director General of Police, Telangana. The memorandum contemplates the situation discussed above and states that when the date of the occurrence of the crime is prior to July 1, 2024, but the date of registration of the crime is after July 1, 2024, the provisions of the IPC would apply as the substantive law and the provisions of the BNSS would apply as the procedural law.
A related problem arises when an FIR is registered prior to July 1, 2024 but investigation continues after such date. The question then is whether the CrPC will apply for the entirety of the criminal procedure, given that the FIR was registered prior to July 1, 2024. The Punjab and Haryana High Court in XXX v. State of UT Chandigarh held that even if an FIR had been registered prior to July 1, 2024 under the CrPC, but a petition was filed after July 1, 2024 for quashing that FIR, the BNSS would apply to govern that petition. On the other hand, the Rajasthan High Court in Krishan Joshi v. State of Rajasthan has held that if an FIR is registered prior to July 1, 2024, then the subsequent investigation as well as the trial would be governed by the CrPC. The Kerala High Court, in the case of Abdul Khader v. State of Kerala, held that an appeal filed or after July 1, 2024 would be governed by the procedure under the BNSS, while all applications filed and steps taken in the appeals filed prior to July 1, 2024 shall be under CrPC. This question has also come up before the Delhi High Court recently through the case of Shri S Rabban Alam v. CBI through its Director. The Court has left the question open and is yet to express a definitive opinion.
Source: Barandbench
