Plea Bargaining Under BNSS 2023: Sections 289 to 300 Explained

Charged with a minor offence and dreading a years-long trial? Under the new criminal code, plea bargaining lets you admit guilt in writing and ask the court for a much lighter sentence, and it is now governed by sections 289 to 300 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

Plea bargaining is a pre-trial deal. The accused agrees to plead guilty, and in return the court awards a lighter sentence and orders compensation for the victim. It is not a bribe or a backroom fix. Every step happens in open court under sections 289 to 300 of BNSS 2023, which replaced the old rules on 1 July 2024. In the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, these provisions sat in Chapter XXIA (sections 265A to 265L).

Plea bargaining is only for less serious cases. Section 289 sets the outer limit.

You may apply if:

• A police report (chargesheet) has been filed against you under section 193, or a Magistrate has taken cognizance of your case on a complaint.
• The offence is punishable with imprisonment of 7 years or less. It cannot carry death, life imprisonment, or a term above 7 years.
• You have no earlier conviction by a court for the same offence.

You cannot apply if:

• The offence affects the socio-economic condition of the country. The Central Government notifies which offences these are.
• The offence was committed against a woman or against a child. BNSS section 289 does not fix an age for the child.
• You are a juvenile or child, as defined in section 2 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. Section 300 keeps the whole chapter away from them.

1. File your application within 30 days. Apply in the same court where your case is pending for trial, within 30 days of the date your charge is framed (BNSS, section 290). Attach an affidavit stating that you are choosing plea bargaining voluntarily, that you understand the punishment, and that you have no earlier conviction for the same offence.
2. Attend the in-camera examination. The court examines you in private, with the other side kept out, to make sure no one has pressured you (BNSS, section 290).
3. Work out a mutually satisfactory disposition. If the court is satisfied the plea is voluntary, it gives the parties time, up to 60 days, to reach a deal (BNSS, section 290). You can attend with your lawyer. The public prosecutor or complainant, the victim, and the investigating officer take part (BNSS, section 291). The deal usually includes compensation for the victim.
4. The court records the deal. The court prepares a report of the disposition, signed by the judge and everyone who took part (BNSS, section 292). If no deal is reached, your case simply returns to normal trial from the stage where you filed the application.
5. The court disposes of the case. The court awards compensation to the victim, hears both sides on the sentence, and then passes a reduced sentence or grants probation (BNSS, section 293).
6. Judgment in open court. The judge delivers the final judgment in open court (BNSS, section 294), and that judgment is final (BNSS, section 295).

Before you sign away your right to a trial, gather every document about your case: the chargesheet, the FIR, and the case diary. Your lawyer can get certified copies from the court, and you can seek related records from a public authority using the Right to Information Act, 2005.

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No. Plea bargaining under BNSS 2023 works only for offences punishable with imprisonment of 7 years or less. It is barred for offences that carry death, life imprisonment, or a term above 7 years, and for offences that affect the socio-economic condition of the country (BNSS, section 289).

Offences committed against a woman or a child are excluded, along with socio-economic offences notified by the Central Government (BNSS, section 289). A juvenile or child under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 also cannot use it (BNSS, section 300).

Where the law fixes a minimum punishment, the court can give half of that minimum, or one-fourth of the minimum if you are a first-time offender. Where there is no minimum, it can give one-fourth of the punishment, or one-sixth if you are a first-time offender (BNSS, section 293).

Yes. The court awards compensation to the victim as part of the disposition, and this is settled before your sentence is fixed (BNSS, sections 292 and 293).

No regular appeal is allowed. The judgment is final. Your only options are a Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution, or a writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 (BNSS, section 295).

If no mutually satisfactory disposition is reached, your case goes back to a normal trial from the stage where you filed the application (BNSS, section 292). Anything you said in the application cannot be used against you later (BNSS, section 299).

No. In a plea bargain you plead guilty and are convicted, so the record shows a conviction, not an acquittal. You accept a lighter sentence in exchange for ending the trial early.

BNSS 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024, replacing the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Plea bargaining used to sit in Chapter XXIA (sections 265A to 265L) of the old CrPC. It now lives in Chapter XXIII (sections 289 to 300).

• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, official Act page on India Code (Ministry of Law and Justice): indiacode.nic.in
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Chapter XXIII, sections 289 to 300, enacted bare Act text (PDF) on India Code: indiacode.nic.in bare Act PDF

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