•With the three new criminal laws set to be implemented across the country, legal and civil rights activists have expressed concern over certain “retrograde provisions”.
•The Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) empowers the jurisdictional magistrate to grant police custody up to 15 days in case investigation cannot be completed within 24 hours.
•However, Section 187 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which replaces the Cr.PC, says police custody of 15 days can be authorised in whole or in parts at any time during the initial 40 or 60 days out of the 60- or 90-day period of judicial custody.
•The police custody of 15 days may be spread over 60 days where the offence is punishable with at least 10 years of imprisonment, or 40 days for any other offence.
•The new provision could lead to bail being denied during this period.