Keralites, here is a law trivia question for years to come. The first case under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which came into force on Monday, was registered in the state in Malappuram district. According to reports, the said case was registered in Malappuram's Kondotty police station against a youth who rode a two-wheeler sans a helmet.
Kondotty police station SHO Deepakumar told Manorama Online that the youngster was booked at 12:19 AM on Monday. Later, district police chief Sasidharan.S IPS confirmed that it was the first case to be booked under the BNS in Kerala.
The accused in the case was identified as Muhammed Shafi, a native of Madikeri in Karnataka. He was stopped at Kolathoor while travelling from Palakkad to Kozhikode, the report added. He was let go after serving notice, the police officials said.
Three new criminal codes -- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam -- were passed by Parliament last year. They have replaced the IPC, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.
At the national level, the first case under the new criminal justice laws was registered for a motorcycle theft in Gwalior, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday, as he asserted that the new laws will give primacy to justice over punishment.
He said the first case registered under the new laws related to a motorcycle theft in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh at 10 minutes past midnight. Earlier, it was believed that the first FIR was filed under the provisions of the criminal code BNS against a street vendor selling water and tobacco products from a cart under a foot overbridge near the New Delhi railway station for alleged obstruction to a public way.
Several states also reported registering the first case under BNS provisions. The cases related to theft, cheating, assault, wrongful restraint, rash and negligent driving among other offences, according to reports from state capitals.
At his media interaction, Shah said the Delhi case was not the first FIR registered in the country under the new laws.
He also said the Delhi Police "dismissed" the case filed against the street vendor after an investigation. "By using the provisions of review, police have dismissed this case."
Delhi Police sources said they will have to inform a court for formally cancelling the FIR.
Police said 23-year-old Pankaj Kumar, a native of Patna, was found selling water, bidi and cigarettes from a cart around 12:15 am.
- With PTI inputs
