First Case Under New Criminal Code Filed In Delhi

As the new criminal code Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita along with two other laws came into force today, the first FIR was filed against a street vendor for obstructing a road near the New Delhi Railway Station. The FIR (First Information Report) was registered at Kamla Market Police Station.

It was filed under Section 285 of the new criminal code that states, "Whoever, by doing any act, or by omitting to take order with any property in his possession or under his charge, causes danger, obstruction or injury to any person in any public way or public line of navigation, shall be punished with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees."

The FIR was filed after a police personnel on patrol duty last night spotted the street vendor selling water bottles and gutkha on the road. His makeshift stall had obstructed the road and he was repeatedly asked to move it. When he did not, the police personnel moved to register an FIR.

The copy of the FIR states that the street vendor had parked his stall under a foot over bridge near New Delhi Railway Station late last night. "The man was selling water, bidi and cigarettes on the street and the obstruction was causing difficulty for the public. The sub-inspector asked the man several times to remove the stall from the road, but he did not comply. The sub-inspector asked several passers-by to join the probe, but they refused. Then the sub-inspector shot a video using the e-praman application," the FIR says.

The man has been identified as Pankaj Kumar from Patna in Bihar.

Three new criminal codes -- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam -- have come into force today. They will replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure.