Ranchi, The Jharkhand High Court on Monday issued notice to a publisher for a printing error in the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, thus altering the nature and meaning of the law.
A division bench comprising Justices Ananda Sen and Subhash Chand took suo motu cognizance of the matter and pointed out a misprint in Section 103(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) published by M/s Universal LexisNexis.
The court noted that Article 103 (2) of the BNS refers to the penalty for murder. According to the Gazette Notification: "When a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the grounds of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other similar reason, each member of such group will be punished with death or life imprisonment, and will also be liable to a fine."
However, in the Bare Acts published by Universal LexisNexis, the word "similar" is missing, leading to a significant error in the interpretation of the law, the judges noted.
The court ordered the publisher to immediately take corrective measures for the copies it had published and to refrain from selling them to customers. The matter has been scheduled for hearing before the acting chief justice, the court announced.
The court emphasized the critical importance of accuracy in legal publications and stated: "Today is an important day for the Indian legal system with the introduction of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Bharatiya Saksha Sanhita. These laws have been subject to numerous publications, in the form of proceedings, books and manuals, all of which are in great demand.
"These publications are acquired by lawyers, courts, libraries, law enforcement agencies and various institutions. Therefore, any publication of these laws must be error-free. Even a minor typographical error or omission can lead to significant misinterpretations and implications. Such errors could result in injustice and embarrassment for all parties involved, including lawyers and the courts," the judges added.
A division bench comprising Justices Ananda Sen and Subhash Chand took suo motu cognizance of the matter and pointed out a misprint in Section 103(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) published by M/s Universal LexisNexis.
The court noted that Article 103 (2) of the BNS refers to the penalty for murder. According to the Gazette Notification: "When a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the grounds of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other similar reason, each member of such group will be punished with death or life imprisonment, and will also be liable to a fine."
However, in the Bare Acts published by Universal LexisNexis, the word "similar" is missing, leading to a significant error in the interpretation of the law, the judges noted.
The court ordered the publisher to immediately take corrective measures for the copies it had published and to refrain from selling them to customers. The matter has been scheduled for hearing before the acting chief justice, the court announced.
The court emphasized the critical importance of accuracy in legal publications and stated: "Today is an important day for the Indian legal system with the introduction of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Bharatiya Saksha Sanhita. These laws have been subject to numerous publications, in the form of proceedings, books and manuals, all of which are in great demand.
"These publications are acquired by lawyers, courts, libraries, law enforcement agencies and various institutions. Therefore, any publication of these laws must be error-free. Even a minor typographical error or omission can lead to significant misinterpretations and implications. Such errors could result in injustice and embarrassment for all parties involved, including lawyers and the courts," the judges added.
