The provisions of 'Plea-Bargaining' under Chapter XXIII of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023…

Section 289(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 excludes from the plea-bargaining chapter an offence committed against a woman or a child (formerly section 265A CrPC, which referred to a child below fourteen years). The BNSS does not itself define "child"; under section 2(2) BNSS the definition in section 2(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 applies, under which a child is a person below the age of eighteen years. The chapter also excludes offences affecting the socio-economic condition of the country and offences punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment exceeding seven years.