Sections 265A–265L CrPC vs Sections 289–300 BNSS — Plea Bargaining

In India, Sections 289 to 300 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) replaced Sections 265A to 265L of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) on plea bargaining from 1 July 2024. The chapter adds a 30-day filing window, a 60-day cap on negotiation, lower first-offender sentences, and an exclusion for offences against any child.

This page compares the chapter one section at a time, recording every word that changed. For the eligibility test worked through, sentencing examples and the wider case law, see the thematic guide Plea bargaining — old CrPC vs new BNSS. Chapter XXIA was inserted into the CrPC by Act 2 of 2006, with effect from 5 July 2006 (footnote to Section 265A).

At a glance

Plea bargaining is a procedure, not an offence, so neither First Schedule classifies it. Eligibility under Section 289 turns on the maximum punishment the offence carries, read from the offence-creating law.

What changed

Section 265A CrPC → Section 289 BNSS

• Modified — exclusion: "committed against a woman, or a child below the age of fourteen years" → "against a woman, or a child". Section 2(2) BNSS gives undefined words their meaning in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 2(3) BNS defines "child" as "any person below the age of eighteen years"; on a reading of those provisions the exclusion now reaches offences against anyone under eighteen.
• Minor edit — cross-references: police report "under section 173" → "section 193"; complainant and witnesses examined "under section 200" → "section 223"; process "under section 204" → "section 227".
• Minor edit — heading "Application of the Chapter" → "Application of Chapter".
• Identical — the seven-year threshold in clauses (a) and (b), and the Central Government's power in sub-section (2) to notify offences affecting the socio-economic condition of the country.

Section 265B CrPC → Section 290 BNSS

• New — sub-section (1): the application may be filed "within a period of thirty days from the date of framing of charge".
• Modified — sub-section (4)(a): the Court "shall provide time, not exceeding sixty days," to work out a mutually satisfactory disposition. The CrPC set no limit.
• Minor edit — "as the case may be" dropped three times after "the Public Prosecutor or the complainant of the case" (sub-sections (3), (4) and (4)(a)); "provisions of this Code" → "this Sanhita" in (4)(b).
• Minor edit — sub-section (2), the affidavit: "previously been convicted by a Court in a case in which he had been charged with the same offence" → "by a Court in which he had been charged". The words "in a case" are gone from the affidavit clause but remain in the parallel wording of sub-section (4)(b).

Section 265C CrPC → Section 291 BNSS

• Minor edit — "section 265B" → "section 290"; "pleader" → "advocate" in both second provisos.
• Minor edit — clause (a), second proviso: "the accused, if he so desires, participate in such meeting" → "may participate" (the missing verb is supplied).
• Minor edit — clause (b), second proviso: "the victim of the case or the accused, as the case may be, so desires" → "the victim of the case or the accused so desires".

Section 265D CrPC → Section 292 BNSS

• Minor edit — "section 265C" → "section 291"; "section 265B" → "section 290"; "this Code" → "this Sanhita"; heading "Report of the mutually satisfactory disposition to be submitted before the Court" → "Report of mutually satisfactory disposition to be submitted before Court".

Section 265E CrPC → Section 293 BNSS

• Expanded — clause (c): after "half of such minimum punishment" the BNSS adds "and where the accused is a first-time offender and has not been convicted of any offence in the past, it may sentence the accused to one-fourth of such minimum punishment".
• Expanded — clause (d): after "one-fourth of the punishment provided or extendable" the BNSS adds that for such a first-time offender "it may sentence the accused to one-sixth of the punishment provided or extendable, for such offence".
• Minor edit — "section 265D" → "section 292" (twice); "section 360" → "section 401" (twice); "as the case may be" dropped from clauses (b) and (d); heading "Disposal of the case" → "Disposal of case".

Section 265F CrPC → Section 294 BNSS — Minor edit: "in terms of section 265E" → "section 293"; heading drops "the".

Section 265G CrPC → Section 295 BNSS — Minor edit: "The judgment delivered by the Court under section 265G" → "under this section"; heading drops "the". Both texts refer the judgment to the finality section itself rather than to the judgment section (265F / 294).

Section 265H CrPC → Section 296 BNSS — Minor edit: "under this Code" → "under this Sanhita"; heading drops "the".

Section 265-I CrPC → Section 297 BNSS — Minor edit: "section 428" → "section 468"; "this Code" → "this Sanhita"; heading "…undergone by the accused to be set-off against the sentence of imprisonment" → "…undergone by accused to be set off against sentence of imprisonment".

Section 265J CrPC → Section 298 BNSS — Minor edit: "this Code" → "this Sanhita"; Explanation: "clause (u) of section 2" → "clause (v) of section 2"; Assistant Public Prosecutor "appointed under section 25" → "section 19".

Section 265K CrPC → Section 299 BNSS — Minor edit: "section 265B" → "section 290". Otherwise word for word.

Section 265L CrPC → Section 300 BNSS — Modified: "any juvenile or child as defined in clause (k) of section 2 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000" → "as defined in section 2 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015"; heading drops "the".

Statutory text (relevant extract)

Extract — Section 290(1) BNSS:

(1) A person accused of an offence may file an application for plea bargaining within a period of thirty days from the date of framing of charge in the Court in which such offence is pending for trial.

Extract — Section 290(4)(a) BNSS (opening words):

(a) the Court is satisfied that the application has been filed by the accused voluntarily, it shall provide time, not exceeding sixty days, to the Public Prosecutor or the complainant of the case and the accused to work out a mutually satisfactory disposition of the case …

Extract — Section 293(c) BNSS:

(c) after hearing the parties under clause (b), if the Court finds that minimum punishment has been provided under the law for the offence committed by the accused, it may sentence the accused to half of such minimum punishment, and where the accused is a first-time offender and has not been convicted of any offence in the past, it may sentence the accused to one-fourth of such minimum punishment;

Extract — Section 265A(1) CrPC, closing words (old):

… but does not apply where such offence affects the socio-economic condition of the country or has been committed against a woman, or a child below the age of fourteen years.

How it works — section by section

1. Is the case eligible? (Section 289). Either a police report under Section 193 alleges an offence not punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment exceeding seven years, or a Magistrate has taken cognizance of such an offence on complaint and issued process under Section 227 after examining the complainant and witnesses under Section 223. The Chapter does not apply to notified socio-economic offences, offences against a woman or a child, or (Section 300) a juvenile or child as defined in the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
2. Apply in time (Section 290(1)–(2)). The accused files in the Court where the offence is pending for trial, within thirty days from framing of charge, with a brief description of the case and an affidavit that the choice is voluntary, made after understanding the punishment, and that he has no previous conviction for the same offence.
3. Voluntariness check (Section 290(3)–(4)). Notice goes to the Public Prosecutor or complainant and the accused. The Court examines the accused in camera, without the other party. If the application is voluntary, it allows up to sixty days to negotiate; if involuntary, or if there is a previous conviction for the same offence, the case proceeds from the stage the application was filed.
4. The meeting (Section 291). In police-report cases, notice goes to the Public Prosecutor, the investigating officer, the accused and the victim; in other cases, to the accused and the victim. The Court must ensure the whole process is voluntary. The accused, and in complaint cases the victim, may bring an advocate.
5. Report or failure (Section 292). A disposition is recorded in a report signed by the presiding officer and every participant. If none is reached, the Court records that and proceeds from the stage the application was filed.
6. Disposal (Section 293). The Court awards the victim compensation as agreed, hears the parties on punishment and probation, and may release on probation under Section 401 or the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958. Otherwise it applies the fractions in clauses (c) and (d). Worked examples are in the plea bargaining guide.
7. Judgment and finality (Sections 294–295). The judgment is delivered in open Court and signed. It is final, subject only to Article 136 and Articles 226 and 227.
8. Supporting rules (Sections 296–299). Bail and trial powers (296); set-off under Section 468 (297); the Chapter overrides inconsistent provisions (298); statements not usable elsewhere (299).

What this means in practice

For the accused and defence advocate. Diary the thirty days from the date the charge is framed. Section 290(1) does not say what follows a late application; on a plain reading, it falls outside the window the section provides. The Sanhita also does not say how the window runs in a summons-case, where Section 274 BNSS states that "it shall not be necessary to frame a formal charge" — a point no judgment read for this page addresses. First-time-offender status under Section 293 requires that the accused "has not been convicted of any offence in the past", which is wider than the affidavit's "same offence" test in Section 290(2).

For the victim. Sections 291 and 293(a) give the victim a seat at the meeting and compensation in accordance with the disposition. In Girraj Prasad Meena (below) a same-day conviction on a plea of guilty, recorded without notice to the victim, was set aside, and the Court said that plea bargaining under the Chapter would have obliged the court to put the victim to notice.

For the prosecution. Before consenting, check the offence against Section 289: the maximum punishment, whether the Central Government has notified it as affecting the socio-economic condition of the country, and whether the victim is a woman or a person under eighteen. The negotiation period is capped at sixty days by Section 290(4)(a).

Judgments that still matter

No Supreme Court judgment applying Sections 289 to 300 BNSS was found in the corpus searched for this page. Sections 291, 292 and 294 to 299 repeat the CrPC text with renumbered cross-references and drafting edits; on a reading of the text, judgments on those words remain relevant.

Kasambhai Abdul Rehmanbhai Shaikh v. State of Gujarat & Anr., [1980] 2 S.C.R. 1037 (1980 INSC 24) — 13 February 1980. Bench of P.N. Bhagwati and A.P. Sen JJ.; judgment by Bhagwati J. A food-adulteration conviction rested solely on a plea of guilty entered after, in the Court's words, "plea bargaining took place between the prosecution, the defence and the learned Magistrate" (p. 1039). The Court said that "the conviction of an accused based on a plea of guilty entered by him as a result of plea-bargaining with the prosecution and the Magistrate must be held to be unconstitutional and illegal", reasoning that such an inducement was unfair and violated Article 21 (p. 1041). It set aside the conviction and remanded the case to proceed from the stage of the plea, ignoring it (pp. 1041–1042). The judgment predates the statutory Chapter by 26 years; its concern with inducement is what the affidavit and in-camera examination in Section 290 now address.

Girraj Prasad Meena v. State of Rajasthan & Ors., [2013] 10 S.C.R. 393 — 30 September 2013. Bench of B.S. Chauhan and S.A. Bobde JJ.; judgment by Chauhan J. Two accused charged under Sections 323 and 343 IPC applied pleading guilty; the trial court concluded the trial the same day without notice to the victim, imposed a fine of ₹500 and gave probation under the Probation of Offenders Act (para 2). The Court held the trial court "proceeded not only in great haste, but adopted a procedure not known in law" (para 9), and said that if it wanted to entertain plea bargaining under Chapter XXIA, "the court was obliged thereunder to put the victim to notice" before extending such benefits (para 13). It set aside the trial court and High Court orders and remitted the case for fresh trial (para 14). Section 291 BNSS carries the victim-notice duty unchanged.

Iqram v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors., [2022] 16 S.C.R. 51 — 16 December 2022. Bench of D.Y. Chandrachud CJI and P.S. Narasimha J. The appellant agreed to a plea bargain and was convicted in nine sessions trials by nine judgments on the same day, each with two years' simple imprisonment (para 5), which the jail authorities treated as consecutive — 18 years in all (para 8). The Court noted that Section 265G allows only a special leave petition and writ petitions (para 9), held that the High Court, once moved under Article 226, ought to have corrected the miscarriage of justice (para 13), and directed the sentences to run concurrently (para 14). Section 295 BNSS preserves the same constitutional routes.

Which law applies to your case

Section 531(2)(a) BNSS provides that any appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation pending immediately before 1 July 2024 is to be "disposed of, continued, held or made" under the CrPC "as if this Sanhita had not come into force". On a reading of that text, a trial pending on that date remains under Sections 265A to 265L CrPC, without the thirty-day window, the sixty-day cap or the first-offender fractions. Whether a fresh plea bargaining application filed in such a trial after that date is itself governed by Section 531(2)(a) is not answered expressly by the text. See which law applies to an offence before 1 July 2024.

Frequently asked questions

Which BNSS sections replaced CrPC Sections 265A to 265L?

Sections 289 to 300 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Chapter XXIII) replaced Chapter XXIA of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 from 1 July 2024. The mapping is one to one: 265A to 289, 265B to 290, 265C to 291, and so on to 265L and 300, with 265-I becoming Section 297.

Which sections of the plea bargaining chapter changed in substance?

Three. Section 289 BNSS excludes offences against 'a child' instead of 'a child below the age of fourteen years'. Section 290 adds a thirty-day filing window from the framing of charge and caps the negotiation time at sixty days. Section 293 adds lower sentence fractions for a first-time offender. Section 300 also updates the Juvenile Justice Act reference from 2000 to 2015.

When must a plea bargaining application be filed under the BNSS?

Section 290(1) BNSS allows the application 'within a period of thirty days from the date of framing of charge' in the Court in which the offence is pending for trial. Section 265B(1) CrPC set no period. The Sanhita does not say what follows a late application, or how the window runs in a summons-case where Section 274 BNSS says no formal charge need be framed.

What sentence can a first-time offender receive after plea bargaining?

Under Section 293(c) BNSS, where the law provides a minimum punishment, the Court may impose half of it, or one-fourth for a first-time offender who has not been convicted of any offence in the past. Under Section 293(d), in other cases, it may impose one-fourth of the punishment provided or extendable, or one-sixth for such a first-time offender.

Must the victim be heard in plea bargaining?

Yes. Section 291 BNSS, like Section 265C CrPC, requires the Court to issue notice to the victim to take part in the meeting to work out a satisfactory disposition, and Section 293(a) requires compensation to the victim in accordance with the disposition. In Girraj Prasad Meena v. State of Rajasthan ([2013] 10 S.C.R. 393) the Supreme Court said the court was obliged under Chapter XXIA to put the victim to notice.

Can a plea bargaining judgment be challenged?

Only through the Constitution. Section 295 BNSS, like Section 265G CrPC, makes the judgment final; no appeal lies except a special leave petition under Article 136 and a writ petition under Articles 226 and 227. In Iqram v. State of Uttar Pradesh ([2022] 16 S.C.R. 51) the Supreme Court, on appeal from a High Court writ order, directed nine plea-bargained sentences to run concurrently.

Can statements in a plea bargaining application be used against the accused?

No. Section 299 BNSS, repeating Section 265K CrPC with the cross-reference renumbered to Section 290, provides that statements or facts stated by an accused in the application shall not be used for any other purpose except for the purpose of the Chapter, notwithstanding any other law in force.

Does the BNSS plea bargaining chapter apply to a case pending on 1 July 2024?

Section 531(2)(a) BNSS provides that a trial or application pending immediately before 1 July 2024 is to be continued in accordance with the CrPC as if the BNSS had not come into force. On a reading of that text, such a trial remains under Sections 265A to 265L CrPC, with no thirty-day window and the older sentence fractions.

Related

• Plea bargaining — old CrPC vs new BNSS (thematic guide)
• Sections 251–259 CrPC vs Sections 274–282 BNSS — Trial of summons-cases
• Section 320 CrPC vs Section 359 BNSS — Compounding of offences
• Sections 357 and 357A CrPC vs BNSS — Victim compensation
• Compromise in a criminal case — compounding under BNSS 359
• CrPC to BNSS master comparison table

Sources

• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Gazette of India text, cross-checked against the official text): Sections 2(1)(v), 2(2), 274, 289 to 300, 531(2)(a); headings of Sections 19, 401, 467 and 468.
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Gazette of India text): Section 2(3).
• Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (India Code original text, with footnotes): Sections 265A to 265L; headings of Sections 25 and 428.
• Supreme Court judgments read in full text: Kasambhai Abdul Rehmanbhai Shaikh v. State of Gujarat (1980_2_1037_1042_EN.md, report PDF checked); Girraj Prasad Meena v. State of Rajasthan (2013_10_393_404_EN.md, report PDF checked); Iqram v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2022_16_51_55_EN.md, report PDF checked).

This page explains the statutory text and the judgments cited as they stand. It is not legal advice; for a specific case, consult an advocate.