Rajasthan High Court Orders to Follow CrPC for Old FIRs, Not BNSS

On July 9, Rajasthan High Court, held that CrPC and not BNSS should be applicable for trial of any FIR which was filed before the commencement of the new penal legislations.

Krishan Joshi, a 65-year-old resident of Nagpur, filed a petition for a thorough investigation into an FIR registered on February 2, 2024. The FIR accuses Sita Ram (accused) of cheating and conspiracy over a piece of agricultural land that Joshi’s late father bought in 1961.

Joshi’s lawyer, Ms Swati Shekhar, initially filed the petition under the new Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which replaced the older Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc.), 1973. However, the court clarified that since the FIR was registered before BNSS came into effect on July 1, 2024, the case should be handled under the old CrPc., 1973. This decision was based on the savings clause in Section 531(2)(a) of BNSS, which states that any investigation underway before the new law’s commencement should proceed under the old CrPc.

Justice arun Monga observed:

“the moment an FIR is registered under section 154 of the Cr.P.C., criminal investigative/administrative machinery is set in motion under Chapter XII thereof. Thus, if an FIR is registered prior to 01.07.2023 under the Cr.P.C., it would amount to a pending enquiry/investigation within the meaning of section 531(2)(a) of BNSS. The entire subsequent investigation procedure and even the trial procedure qua such an FIR shall then be governed by Cr.P.C. and not BNSS.” [paragraph 5]

The petitioner argued that despite filing the FIR, the police have not made significant progress in investigation or arrested the accused, Sita Ram.

The court advised that the petitioner to first seek remedies from higher police officials under Section 36 of CrPc. or approach a Magistrate under Section 156(3) CrPc. for further investigation orders. The court also mentioned that the other option is to file a criminal complaint.