Introduction
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, enacted in 2023, is a landmark legislation for the Indian criminal justice system. It is designed to incorporate and ultimately replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by integrating provisions that, till now, were scattered all over various penal laws and innovating attitudes toward punishment. The Sanhita embodies the latest judicial sentiment: protection with reformation. It can relate to the various punitive theories represented in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, dwelling on the purposes, importance, and applicability in today’s Indian legal architecture. The Purpose of Punishment
Punishment is the very backbone of the criminal justice system: It has several goals including deterrence, retribution, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. Theories of punishment explain why people are punished and what social goals are thereby served. In the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, these goals were well-balanced with punitive measures and reform.
Types of Punishments Under the Act:
In Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita six major forms of punishment have been prescribed:
- Death Penalty: A residual provision from the IPC, this punishment is reserved for only the most dreadful crimes. Though a controversial issue, it has been considered by most as an ultimate deterrent and retributive measure, especially for crimes that come with extreme violence or treason against the state.
- Life Imprisonment: The Sanhita sustains this punishment as offering a best alternative to capital punishment for heinous crimes but when taking the convict’s life may not be fitting. Life imprisonment incapacitates dangerous criminals from having an opportunity to again prove their harm of society.
- Imprisonment (Rigorous and Simple): There are two types of imprisonment—rigorous, which is to serve with hard labor, and simple, which is without labor. This is the class that aids a court in pronouncing a lighter or heavier term depending on the crime and the circumstances of the offender.
- Forfeiture of Property: This type of punishment removes all material advantages gained from offenses by the offenders, thus discouraging other offenses and disrupting criminal enterprises.
- Fine: “Financial penalty remains a fashionable mode of sentencing less serious crimes whereby the culprit receives conviction without jail time”.
- Community Service: this was the second designed to change the criminal’s behaviour by making him serve out his term in the community as reparation for his misdeed.
These sanctions reveal the heterogeneity of criminal behavior and demand different judicial responses. Every form of sanction is associated with one single theory of justice.
Theories of Punishment in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
- Retributive Theory
The theory of punishment belonging to the category of the retributive finds its basis in the doctrine that the wrongdoer ought to be punished proportionately to the evil done. It perceives punishment as a form of moral revenge-an eye for an eye. In Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, retribution is evident in the provisions for capital punishment and life imprisonment. Capital punishment is available to those whose crimes are of extreme gravity and deserving of such punishment-a ratio like that between the wrong inflicted upon the victim and upon society.
As was also held in the case Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab[1], the death penalty has to be inflicted only in the rarest of the rare cases.
Retribution also operates through property forfeiture cases where the ill-gotten gains of the offenders are taken as a form of retribution against their wrong-doing.
- Deterrence Theory
Deterrent Theory. The theory holds that the purpose of punishment should be deterrent in nature, to discourage not only the criminal himself but all members of society from committing criminal acts. The threat of severe punishment, such as death or imprisonment for life, serves as a deterrent: nobody wants to experience these crimes again.
The Indian Penal Code increases the deterrent factor by keeping life sentences and heavy punishments for some of the crimes. For instance, terrorism, rape, murder call for stern punishment in which people will be prevented from committing such a crime. This theory is derived upon the fact that people will weigh between the probabaility of getting punishment against the possible aftermath of an individual’s act and will conduct lawfully.
- Preventive Theory
The preventive theory of punishment seeks to incapacitate the offenders in order to prevent the offenders from continuing with their crimes. Imprisonment effectively prevents criminals from causing further harm to the rest of society as the physical means to do so are taken away through the Sanhita.
Preventive punishment also stands in life imprisonment and capital punishment with the objective to incapacitate the criminal permanently, especially when the individual may remain a threat for some time. In addition, severe imprisonment with hard labor seeks to prevent further offenses through the pain and suffering and keep the time and energy of the offender within a controlled situation.
- Reformative Theory
As international thought changes, there is an integration of the reformative theory of punishment with regard to rehabilitating the criminal in order for him to be reintegrated into society as a law-abiding citizen. Such a theory well illustrates the fact that the administration of justice, through community service, has now been separated from the traditional, more punitive methods.
Community service can be used to give an offender a sense of responsibility and some sort of empathy by contributing directly to welfare in society. On the other hand, simple imprisonment without hard labour can help an offender become exposed to education and skills training, facilitating his/her eventual reintegration after the term.
The reformative approach is in agreement with the contemporary view that most of offenders are not born criminals but are rather a product of unfavorable socio-economic conditions. In this manner, as reform is preferred over punishment, Sanhita attempts to reduce recidivism and provide long-term security to the people.
- Compensatory Theory
A new addendum in the penal framework, compensation theory drives attention and concern towards compensation for the victims of crime. Not a punishment to be dealt out against the convicted but to mete out punishment to the criminal by making him pass through the loss or the experience of loss. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita too shows some features of this theory as it imposes fines upon criminals and charges them with the forfeiture of property.
Compensation does two functions: it punishes the perpetrator financially, but it also pays restitution of a kind to the victim and in its manner illustrates suffering and an effort to reconstitute the person before the wrong was done.
Conclusion
This gives the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita a holistic framework for punishment, putting together several theories to deal with the complexity of criminal behavior. Retribution is balanced with reform and compensation with deterrence; in other words, it reflects the developing approach within justice in India. The inclusion of community service as a type of punishment illustrates a shift from more punitive and deterrent punishments toward ones that are softer and rehabilitative.
The retention of the death penalty on some of the worst possible offenses means retributive and deterrent theory continue to play an important role.
With the dynamic process that society is in and under development, there is an assurance that the Sanhita will be an evolving document to cope with the changing demands for justice in India. By incorporating various theories, the crime may be dealt with and simultaneously, through punishment, society can be protected to some extent and some measure of justice can be delivered to the victims.
[1] 1983 Air 957, 1983 Scr (3) 413
