Mumbai, Mar 25: The Maharashtra legislative council on Wednesday unanimously passed the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill 2026 to include provisions in the Shakti Bill to protect the identities of acid attack victims and ensure jail term for online sexual overtures.
The bill was earlier passed by the state assembly.
Speaking in the council, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also heads the Home department, said that the Shakti Bill was passed by the state legislature in 2020 and sent to the Centre for the President’s assent. He said the President subsequently sent it back.
The state government was told that the Centre was formulating a similar law combining the provisions of the then Indian Penal Code, CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said, adding that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) came into force in July 2024.
The Centre asked the state whether the amendments to BNS with respect to Maharashtra were still required, he said.
Accordingly, a committee was formed to assess whether all the provisions of the proposed Shakti law, which has provisions for strict punishment for crimes against women, were incorporated in the BNS, Fadnavis said.
Following the panel’s suggestion, two provisions have been added to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill 2026, he said.
One of the provisions is aimed at protecting even the names of acid attack victims, Fadnavis said.
The amendment has also made sexual advances through digital means like email, social media platforms an offence with a jail term of three years and a fine, he added.
