BNS community service law lacks standards, consequences

Community service, introduced for the first time in Indian criminal law by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, has no statutory guidelines for its imposition or enforcement. The only statutory description is in the Explanation to Section 23 BNSS, which defines it as unpaid work ordered by a court that benefits the community. It provides no schedule of tasks, no minimum or maximum duration, no supervising body, and no certification mechanism.

The BNS attaches community service to six offences. For five of these, including unlawful trade by a public servant, non-appearance, attempting suicide to compel or restrain lawful power, public drunkenness, and defamation, it is one option alongside imprisonment or fine. The sixth, theft of property worth less than Rs 5,000 by a first-time offender who has returned the property, mandates community service. Courts have imposed widely varying orders, from service at a Gurudwara to planting saplings, without any statutory framework guiding these choices.