The 33rd Bihar Judicial Services Preliminary Examination is twenty-three days away, scheduled for 3 June 2026. And yet, when I sit with my mentees in the Patna study room every morning, the same reflex still trips them up: “Sir, Section 302 hai na, murder ka?” No. Not anymore. Since 1 July 2024, Section 302 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita punishes snatching — a brand-new offence — and murder lives at Section 103. If your brain has not been rewired to the new codes, the 23 days between today and Prelims are not preparation time. They are emergency surgery time. This guide is the scalpel.
Why the BNS-BNSS-BSA Switch is the Single Most Tested Topic in 2026
On 1 July 2024, three colonial-era statutes — the Indian Penal Code 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act 1872 — were repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (BSA). For the 33rd Bihar Judicial Services aspirant sitting on 3 June 2026, this is the first Prelims in BJS history conducted entirely under the new codes for substantive testing — and BPSC has confirmed in its 23 February 2026 notification that both the old and new codes are within the syllabus, because cases filed before 1 July 2024 continue to be tried under IPC/CrPC/IEA. That means you are not learning one code. You are learning two parallel codes and the bridge between them.
The BNS reduces 511 IPC sections to 358. The BNSS expands 484 CrPC sections to 531. The BSA condenses 167 IEA sections to 170 but rewrites the entire architecture of digital evidence. Eight new offences have been added to the BNS, twenty-two have been repealed, and 175 sections have been substantively changed. Every one of those changes is a potential Prelims question. The examiner does not need to draft a tricky problem — the mapping itself is the question. If you do not have the conversion table tattooed on your frontal cortex by 30 May, you will spend twenty minutes during Prelims doing arithmetic that your competitor finished in twenty seconds.
BNS vs IPC: The Twenty Section Mappings That Cover 70% of Prelims Marks
Let us start where the examiner always starts — the chestnut offences that every law student has known since first year. The IPC built its hierarchy on the trinity of Section 302 (murder), Section 376 (rape) and Section 420 (cheating). All three have moved. Murder is now BNS Section 103, retaining the punishment of death or life imprisonment with fine. Cheating, the most heavily litigated economic offence in India, has consolidated the former IPC Sections 415, 417, 418 and 420 into a single provision — BNS Section 318, with cheating-and-delivery-of-property punishable up to seven years under Section 318(4). Rape now lives at BNS Section 63, with aggravated forms at Sections 64 to 70.
Theft has been entirely reorganised. The classical definition of theft from IPC Section 378 is now BNS Section 303(1), but the punishment scheme is tiered: Section 303(2) introduces community service for petty theft below ₹5,000 for a first offender, while Section 303(4) deals with repeat offenders with imprisonment of three to five years. Robbery shifts to BNS Section 309, dacoity to BNS Section 310, and the offence of dacoity with murder to BNS Section 310(2)–(3) carrying death penalty. Snatching — a phenomenon Bihar knows too well — is a brand-new standalone offence at BNS Section 304, no longer absorbed into theft or robbery. This single addition will appear in your paper. Mark my words.
The crime-against-women cluster has been rewritten thoughtfully. BNS Section 69 creates a new offence: sexual intercourse by deceitful means, including false promise of marriage, false promise of employment, or concealment of identity — directly responding to a decade of conflicting High Court judgments. Acid attack moves to BNS Section 124, voyeurism to BNS Section 77, stalking to BNS Section 78. Cruelty by husband or relatives, the workhorse Section 498A IPC, is now BNS Section 86. The dowry death of Section 304B IPC becomes BNS Section 80, with the seven-year-marriage presumption intact. The offences against marriage — bigamy, fraudulent marriage, adultery — are now in BNS Sections 82, 81 and the deleted column respectively (adultery remains struck down post-Joseph Shine).
The big-ticket replacements every BJS aspirant must memorise: sedition is dead. The former IPC Section 124A has been replaced by BNS Section 152, titled “Act endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India” — narrower in scope but harsher in punishment (life imprisonment or seven years with fine). Terrorism, previously distributed across the UAPA, is now codified inside the BNS at Section 113, allowing terrorism prosecutions under ordinary criminal law for the first time. Organised crime gets its own home at BNS Section 111 — a Bihar-relevant provision covering kidnapping syndicates, extortion rackets and contract killings, with punishment up to death. Mob lynching, after years of judicial pleas, is finally a named offence at BNS Section 103(2) when five or more persons act on grounds of identity. Defamation moves to BNS Section 356, criminal force to Sections 130–131, wrongful restraint and confinement to Sections 126–127. Forgery is now Section 336, public servant offences are Sections 197–207. Intentional insult to provoke breach of peace — the politically loved Section 504 IPC — is now BNS Section 352.
BNSS vs CrPC: Procedural Changes That Will Define Your Mains Answers
If BNS is the noun, BNSS is the verb. Every procedural step from FIR to appeal has been re-numbered, and several have been substantively re-engineered. The single biggest change is the statutory recognition of Zero FIR at BNSS Section 173(1). Any person can now lodge a cognizable offence at any police station regardless of jurisdiction, with the FIR transferred to the territorial station after registration. The same Section 173 introduces e-FIR — information sent by electronic means is valid provided the informant signs it within three days. For Bihar, where jurisdictional ping-pong has cost rape victims weeks of delay, this is revolutionary, and the examiner will love asking about it.
BNSS imposes hard deadlines the CrPC never had: medical examination in rape cases within seven days (Section 184), framing of charges within sixty days of first hearing (Section 263), judgment within thirty days of conclusion of arguments extendable to forty-five (Section 392), investigation update to victim within ninety days (Section 193(3)), and plea bargaining application within thirty days of charge framing. Trial in absentia for declared proclaimed offenders is now permitted under Section 356 — a major break from the CrPC tradition. Mandatory forensic investigation for offences punishable with seven or more years is introduced at Section 176(3). Electronic-mode trials, inquiries and proceedings under Section 530 will be the norm for the BJS Class-of-2026 when they take the bench.
Other BNSS shifts to memorise cold: arrest provisions move from CrPC Section 41 to BNSS Section 35, with new restrictions on arresting persons above sixty or accused of offences below three years’ punishment without prior permission of an officer not below the rank of DSP. Anticipatory bail relocates from CrPC Section 438 to BNSS Section 482. Summons and warrants are Sections 63–93. Bail and bonds occupy Sections 478–496. Maintenance of wives, children and parents — the heavily litigated CrPC Section 125 — is now BNSS Section 144 with substantively identical language but a re-vamped procedure.
BSA vs IEA: The Digital Evidence Revolution Every Civil Judge Must Master
The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam is the smallest of the three codes but possibly the most consequential. It collapses the colonial distinction between primary and secondary evidence in the digital age. Under the old IEA Section 65B, a printed email was secondary evidence requiring a certificate. Under BSA Section 57, the original email file, server log, metadata or cloud record is primary evidence in its own right — with each simultaneously stored copy treated as independent primary evidence. This single change moves cybercrime, banking fraud and digital contract litigation into faster trial cycles, and the BJS examiner will probe whether you understand the jurisprudential shift.
The Section 65B certificate has not vanished — it has migrated to BSA Section 63(4)(c) in a two-part format: Part A signed by the party producing the device, Part B signed by an expert, accompanied by a hash value report of the electronic record. This is technical, this is testable, and most coaching centres still teach the old Anvar P.V. v. Basheer framework without flagging that the Supreme Court will now read the new BSA Section 63 against that precedent. The expanded definition of “document” at BSA Section 2(1)(d) now expressly includes emails, server logs, websites, locational evidence, voice mail and smartphone records.
For your Prelims preparation, also lock down: confessions move to BSA Sections 22–24, dying declarations from IEA Section 32(1) to BSA Section 26(a), presumptions about documents to Sections 79–93, examination of witnesses to Sections 124–168, and the burden of proof framework to Sections 104–123. The relevancy chain of IEA Sections 6 to 16 is rewritten as BSA Sections 4 to 14 with no substantive change but new numbering — which means every flashcard you made in college needs to be rebuilt.
The 23-Day Revision Battle Plan
Twenty-three days is enough only if you treat the mapping as memorisation, not as understanding. Days 1 to 6: pure BNS conversion — print the BPRD Comparative Summary, cover the IPC column, and recite the BNS section from memory until you hit 95% accuracy on a random 50-section sample. Days 7 to 11: BNSS, focusing on FIR, arrest, bail, custody, charge, trial, appeal and the new deadlines. Days 12 to 15: BSA with deep dives on electronic evidence and digital records. Days 16 to 19: integrated Constitutional Law revision (BJS Prelims still weights this heavily — fundamental rights, writs, Articles 14, 19, 21, 32, 226 are non-negotiable). Days 20 to 22: full-length mock tests under timed conditions. Day 23: do nothing except sleep. The exam at 3 June 2026 rewards calm, not cramming. Our 33rd BJS Prelims revision crash course runs this exact schedule with daily MCQ drills and live doubt-clearing.
For deeper subject-wise prep, see our Notes hub on the new criminal codes and the Judiciary Gurukul blog for weekly mapping recaps. The BPSC has confirmed the Prelims pattern remains two papers totalling 250 marks with negative marking — so accuracy beats speed.
Five-Question Self-Assessment MCQ
- Murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita is punishable under which section?
(a) Section 302 (b) Section 103 (c) Section 100 (d) Section 99
Answer: (b) Section 103. The classical IPC Section 302 punishment for murder has been re-numbered to BNS Section 103, retaining death or life imprisonment with fine. - Zero FIR has been given statutory recognition under which provision?
(a) BNSS Section 154 (b) BNSS Section 173 (c) CrPC Section 154 (d) BNS Section 173
Answer: (b) BNSS Section 173. Section 173(1) of the BNSS expressly empowers any person to report a cognizable offence at any police station regardless of jurisdiction. - Under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, the certificate previously known as the Section 65B certificate is now found at:
(a) Section 61 (b) Section 65 (c) Section 63(4)(c) (d) Section 57
Answer: (c) Section 63(4)(c). The certificate is now in two parts and must be accompanied by a hash value report of the electronic record. - Sedition under the former IPC Section 124A has been replaced by which BNS provision?
(a) Section 113 (b) Section 152 (c) Section 111 (d) Section 197
Answer: (b) Section 152. BNS Section 152, titled “Act endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India,” replaces sedition with a narrower but harsher provision. - Sexual intercourse by deceitful means — including false promise of marriage — is a new and standalone offence under:
(a) BNS Section 63 (b) BNS Section 69 (c) BNS Section 86 (d) BNS Section 70
Answer: (b) BNS Section 69. This is one of the eight wholly new offences introduced in the BNS, responding to a decade of conflicting High Court rulings on false-promise-of-marriage rape.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Will the 33rd Bihar Judicial Services Prelims test only the new codes or both old and new?
Both. BPSC has clarified in its 23 February 2026 notification that the Prelims syllabus covers both the IPC/CrPC/IEA and the BNS/BNSS/BSA, because criminal cases filed before 1 July 2024 continue to be tried under the old codes. Expect direct mapping questions: “Section X of IPC corresponds to which section of BNS?”
Q2. Which new code carries the highest weightage in PCS-J Prelims 2026?
Historically, the IPC alone contributed 18–22 marks in BJS Prelims. With the syllabus expanding to BNS plus IPC, expect substantive-law questions to rise to 25–30 marks. The BNSS-CrPC pair will contribute another 15–18 marks, and the BSA-IEA pair around 8–10 marks. In total, the new criminal codes will determine roughly 50 out of the 150 substantive Law marks.
Q3. Has Section 420 IPC been completely deleted under the BNS?
No. The offence of cheating-and-dishonestly-inducing-delivery-of-property survives, but the section number has changed. It is now BNS Section 318(4), carrying imprisonment up to seven years and fine. The conduct, the mens rea and the trial procedure are substantively identical. Only the number has changed — but in an exam graded on section numbers, that change is decisive.
Q4. Are the new criminal laws retrospective?
No. Section 358 of the BNS, Section 531 of the BNSS and Section 170 of the BSA all contain savings clauses preserving the application of the IPC, CrPC and IEA to offences and proceedings initiated before 1 July 2024. This is why BJS aspirants must learn both codes — a Civil Judge appointed in late 2026 will still hear thousands of pre-July-2024 cases under the colonial statutes for the next decade.
Q5. What is the single most important resource for mastering the BNS-IPC mapping in twenty-three days?
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) Comparative Summary PDF, available on the BPRD website, is the most authoritative side-by-side mapping. Combine it with the Uttar Pradesh Police’s BNS-IPC Comparative table and one good Indian commentary (Ratanlal & Dhirajlal’s revised BNS edition, or K.D. Gaur’s BNS commentary). And drill the mappings every single day — there are no shortcuts. Join the Judiciary Gurukul daily mapping drill if you need accountability.
The 33rd Bihar Judicial Services Prelims is on 3 June 2026. Twenty-three days. The candidate who walks into the hall knowing that murder is BNS Section 103, cheating is BNS Section 318, Zero FIR is BNSS Section 173, and electronic evidence is BSA Section 63 — that candidate will write the next Patna District Court robe. Be that candidate.
