IMPACT OF BHARATIYA NAGARIK SURAKSHA SANHITA ON UNDERTRAIL PRISONERS: WILL IT REDUCE JUDICIAL DELAYS?

AUTHOR – ANSHU SINGH AT STUDENT GAUTAM BUDDHA UNIVERSITY, GREATER NOIDA (U.P)

BEST CITATION – ANSHU SINGH, IMPACT OF BHARATIYA NAGARIK SURAKSHA SANHITA ON UNDERTRAIL PRISONERS: WILL IT REDUCE JUDICIAL DELAYS?, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (6) OF 2025, PG. 167-172, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

The Indian criminal justice system has long been criticized for its inefficient and protracted delays which disproportionately affect undertrail prisoners. According to NCRB 2022 figures, 75% of the prisoner’s population comprises of undertrail prisoners. Article 21 of the constitution which safeguards the rights to life and personal freedoms is violated by the fact that these individuals are regularly imprisoned for years without being proved guilty. The Bharatiya Nagarik suraksha sanhita (BNSS),2023, aims to solve these systemic problems by enacting procedural reforms including time-bound investigations, default bail arrangements, adjournment constraints and technological integration in judicial processes.

This article critically investigates whether these reforms can lessen judicial delays and the crisis that undertrail inmates face. Although BNSS brings about some encouraging reforms, it mostly ignores systemic issues like judicial vacancies underfunded legal aid programs, overcrowding in prisons, and a lack of strong institutional accountability. Additionally the law loses the chances to institutionalize fair access to justice and does not codify progressive bail jurisprudence.

This article highlights the significance of enforceable custody limits, effective prosecutorial oversight, strong public defender frameworks in preventing arbitrary detention and accelerating justice, drawing on comparative insights from the US and UK. These global models demonstrate how undertrail populations can benefit from significant outcomes when procedural innovations are combined with structural and institutional reforms. The article concludes by making that BNSS represents a substantial procedural change, full implementation, institutional strengthening and addiction to judicial reform are necessary to achieve its full potential.

Keywords: Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), undertrail prisoners, criminal justice reform, judicial delay, right to speedy trial, bail provisions, default bail, legal aid in India, plea bargaining, summary trials, prison overcrowding, judicial infrastructure, Section 193 BNSS, Section 187 BNSS, technological integration in trials, video conferencing in courts, Speedy Trial Act (USA), Prosecution of Offences Act (UK), human rights, institutional accountability, comparative criminal justice.