Intimidation, theft, rash driving 1st cases under new crime laws

Nagpur: The first cases were registered on Monday by rural as well as city police stations under the three new criminal laws, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Saksha Adhiniyam (BNA). However, uncertainty prevailed even among senior police officials, who have received training in the new legal regime.
City police recorded the first BNS case at 8.45am under sections of 352 and 351(2) when two persons fought over space at Jagnath Budhwari.A hotel owner and a handcart vendor had a verbal spat, following which Tehsil police station lodged a complaint for breach of peace & criminal intimidation.
The first FIR at Wathoda police station was under section 281 and 125(B) of BNS against the driver of a light load carrier vehicle for rashly driving his vehicle and endangering life of the victim, after 39-year-old Raja Ramaswamy was hit by the vehicle on the Symbiosis College Road on Monday.
The first FIR in rural areas under the supervision of SP Harrsh A Poddar was registered at Katol police station under section 303(1) for theft after cabbie Akhil Shaikh approached cops on Monday. He had left his cab parked in front of his house from where it was stolen.
The electrocution of senior citizen, Charan Sakhale, 61, at his residence at Wanadongri was the first accidental death to be registered by MIDC police station under BNSS section 194. Sakhale was filling water in the cooler when he suffered shock.
While no one differed on the implementation of BNSS, which replaced the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the BSA, which is set to obliterate the Indian Evidence Act, there was some confusion regarding implementation of BNS and IPC in pending matters.
Sources said that several senior inspectors had tried to wrap up pending probes and register offences on Sunday itself, when the Indian Penal Code was still in force. While some officials claimed they can invoke IPC on a later date too for offences that had taken place in the past, others differed, stating any case registered from Monday would be under BNS-2023.
“After so many years of service and practice, it’s not easy to switch over to a complete new regime. Naturally, it would take a few months to get over IPC and CrPC,” said a senior inspector, admitting he is frequently discussing changes with constables, who have received more intense training and grooming for days.
“Some trained police constables seem to be more confident than officers as on today,” he said.