The Punjab & Haryana High Court has decided in the first instance how to deal with pending petitions after the new criminal code Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into effect from 1st July 2024.
A single-judge bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara dealt with a legal proposition that sprouted after a time-barred petition filed before 30- Jun-2024 under CrPC, accompanied with applications under S. 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963, stood pending as of 01-Jul-2024 came up for hearing on 2nd July after it was adjourned when the CrPC was still in force.
The legal issue before the court thus was if the delay is condoned, would the case be governed under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, or Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023?
In a first, the Court, interpreted Section-531 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and opined the particulars of the section make it crystal clear that all the appeals, applications, trials, inquiries, or investigations pending on or before 30th June 2024, would continue to be governed under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Considering that the present criminal revision was time-barred and what was pending was the application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963, which was filed under a criminal revision petition under Section 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the court referred to Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897.
"A perusal of section 6, clause (c) makes it apparent that no right privilege, obligation, or liability acquired, accrued, or incurred under any enactment which has been repealed shall be affected by such repeal. Clause (e) makes it evident that any legal proceeding or remedy regarding such right privilege, obligation, liability penalty, forfeiture, or punishment shall remain unaffected and governed by the old Act", the court observed.
The Court noted that the effect of condonation of delay is that the delay is forgiven, and the plea is treated as filed within the limitation period; thus, it would relate to the date on which the limitation expired and the said date would be the determining factor, and the procedure that was applicable on that date would apply to the revision.
The Court was thus of the view that the present time-barred petition shall be governed under the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, and not Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
"Section 531 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 explicitly specifies that pending appeals shall be disposed of or continued as if the new law had not yet taken effect, following the provisions of CrPC. The petition and the accompanying application seeking an extension of time were filed and registered in the registry of this Court when CrPC, 1973 was in force and were pending on the 1st of July 2024; hence, they would fall under the scope of section 531(2)(a) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. Therefore, based on the above, this petition shall have to be adjudicated under S. 401 of the CrPC, 1973 and not under S. 442 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023", the court stated.
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