Only the other day I was hanging out with my father (an officer in law enforcement) when our casual conversation regarding rechristening sections in new major criminal acts transcended far more profoundly than we could initially wonder.
Among the sections that we flipped through was Section 106 Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which is set to supplant (the soon-to-be erstwhile) 304A IPC, one that prescribes punishment for causing death due to rash and negligent acts. For convenience, these sections have been reproduced below.
Section 304A IPC: Causing death by negligence. Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, with a fine, or with both.[1]
Section 106 BNS: Causing death by negligence.
(1) Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and shall also be liable to a fine. Suppose such an act is done by a registered medical practitioner while performing a medical procedure. In that case, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term extending to two years and liable to a fine.[2]
Explanation. — For this sub-section, “registered medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner with any medical qualification recognised under the National Medical Commission Act 2019 and whose name has been entered in the National Medical Register or a State Medical Register under that Act.
(2) Whoever causes the death of any person by rash and negligent driving of a vehicle not amounting to culpable homicide and escapes without reporting it to a police officer or a Magistrate soon after the incident shall be punished with imprisonment of either description of a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Juxtaposing old law with new enactment, anyone can easily discern the changes in new coding:
- Increase in punishment for death caused by rash and negligent act (from now on called simple offence) from two to five years
- A specific mention of the offence of death due to medical negligence, which retains the old punishment of two years.
- Introduction of new offence (starting now called the aggravated offence), commonly referred to as hit and run, where after causing death, the offender escapes without reporting it to the police or a Magistrate soon after the incident, punishable with imprisonment extending up to ten years.
Seemingly innocuous to the law-abiding, the new provisions appear intuitive at first glance. But as we delved deep, myriad legal consequences began to unfold.
Divergence mentioned in (a) is easy to understand, and (b) is also not difficult to comprehend as the courts in India have long, though cautiously, been punishing rash and negligent acts of medical professionals under 304A IPC. The act mentioned at (c), as described under section 106(2) BNS, divides the criminal act into two parts, the first being a rash and negligent act leading to the death of the victim and the second being the intentional act of fleeing away from the crime scene without reporting it to police or Magistrate.
[1] Section-304A, Indian Penal Code, 1860.
[2] Section-106, Bhartiya Nyaya Sangita, 2023.