The Punjab and Haryana High Court has endorsed the use of the abbreviations (BNSS, BNS, and BSA) for new criminal laws in all legal documents and proceedings.

These laws, namely the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), have sparked widespread concern among lawyers, especially in southern states where Hindi proficiency is limited.

The Court was hearing a petition filed by a woman, aged 26, apprehending arrest in the FIR under Sections 409, 420, 465, 466, 468, 471, 120B of the IPC, and Sections 13(1) (a) and 13(2) of the PC (Amendment) Act, 2018. She filed the petition under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), seeking anticipatory bail.

At the outset, the Bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara said, "Before proceeding to adjudicate the bail, let us find out the scope of writing the abbreviation of “The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023,” as BNSS, and the other two simultaneously enacted statutes, “The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023,” and “Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023” as BNS and BSA, respectively."

The Single-Judge Bench emphasized that referring to these statutes by their abbreviations in first information reports (FIRs), petitions, orders, and other legal documents would not contravene any legal provisions. "Adopting abbreviations for the new criminal laws will not only simplify the usage of lengthy Hindi terminology in legal space but also promote inclusivity, facilitating a more accessible and efficient judicial process. Given the above, there is nothing wrong if in the FIR, Petitions, orders, etc., Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 are referred to as BNSS, BNS, BSA, respectively," the Court said.

"Condensing the titles of new criminal laws into initialism BNS, BNSS, and BSA will help standardize the terms in a manner that can be universally understood without grappling with linguistic competence. These are likely to reduce the cognitive load on readers by making the text more scannable and more accessible to the process, and compared to the Hindi pronunciation, it is straightforward to pronounce," the Court added.

Acknowledging the historical and practical benefits of abbreviation usage in written communication, the Court emphasized its role in reducing cognitive load and enhancing readability in legal texts. "Creating a shared linguistic space for people with different language backgrounds becomes crucial to fostering a sense of unity and inclusivity. The hard-to-pronounce titles cause lingual impediment, cognitive chaos, and tedium that can prevent the legal system from operating smoothly. We, the people of India, respect the mutual co-existence of Hindi and non-Hindi speakers and acknowledge the inevitable discomfort for the latter to pronounce difficult Hindi names. Not only MPs and MLAs, even various political parties in India, with long names, like “AIMIM”25, BJP, DMK, JDU, TDP etc., are widely recognized by their abbreviated/initialized forms, irrespective of the languages in which their names are composed," it said.

On the anticipatory bail plea of the woman, the Court took note of precedent set by in similar cases and granted anticipatory bail to the petitioner, citing provisions under Sections 485(4), 486, 491, and 492 of the BNSS Act.

While observing that the petitioner is a first offender, the Court ordered, "Even a prima facie perusal of paragraph 5 of the bail petition needs consideration for bail. Thus, without commenting on the case's merits, in the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, and for the reasons mentioned above, the petitioner makes a case for bail, subject to Ss. 485(4), 486, 491, and 492 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the terms and conditions on bail bonds, to the satisfaction of the Arresting Officer/ Investigator or the concerned Court, whichever is applicable."

Cause Title: Manpreet Kaur v. State of Punjab [Neutral Citation: 2024:PHHC:091857]

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Advocate Randhir Singh Manhas

Respondent: Advocate General (AG) Anurag Chopra, Additional AG Gurpartap S. Bhullar, AAG Sukhdev Singh, Deputy AG Swati Batra

Click here to read/download the Order


Justice Anoop ChitkaraPunjab & Haryana High Court

Sukriti Mishra