Witness Protection and Victim Rights

10.1 Witness Protection — New Emphasis

BNSS acknowledges witness protection without a standalone scheme but integrates it:

• Section 193(8): Investigation officer must record identity of informants/witnesses in a protected manner
• Section 289: Plea bargaining requires victim notification and consent
• Section 396: Courts can order in-camera (closed) proceedings in sexual offence cases to protect victim identity

Witness Protection Scheme 2018 (Supreme Court): The Supreme Court in Mahender Chawla v. UOI (2018) directed the Government to implement a Witness Protection Scheme — operationalised as a Central Government scheme. BNSS integrates this framework.

10.2 Victim Rights — Enhanced

Right	BNSS Section	Old CrPC Equivalent
Information about investigation progress	S.193(3)	No equivalent
Heard before discharge of accused	S.230	Limited
Free medical treatment (rape)	S.397	No equivalent
Compensation by accused	S.395	S.357 (discretionary)
Victim impact statement at sentencing	No specific provision	No provision

---