BNSS Section 398, Witness protection scheme: a new provision
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 · in force from 1 July 2024
BNSS 398: Witness protection scheme
From 1 July 2024
Every State Government shall prepare and notify a Witness Protection Scheme for the State with a view to ensure protection of the witnesses.
There is no counterpart in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: both official correspondence tables show this provision as new.
BPR&D: “Every State Government shall prepare and notify a Witness Protection Scheme for the State with a view to ensure protection of the witnesses”.
Which one applies
Procedure follows the proceeding. Under section 531(2)(a) of the BNSS, an appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation already pending on 1 July 2024 continues under the CrPC; one begun on or after that date proceeds under the BNSS.
Read BNSS section 531 →Sources
- Correspondence Table and Comparison Summary of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Bureau of Police Research & Development, Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: bare Act with Corresponding Section Table, National Crime Records Bureau (Sankalan).
- The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974), as amended, India Code, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.
BPR&D is the Bureau of Police Research & Development (Ministry of Home Affairs); NCRB the National Crime Records Bureau. Their correspondence tables are training aids, not law. This page is general information, not legal advice on any case; the bare Acts as published by the Government of India are the authority.