Beyond Borders: A Doctrinal And Comparative Analysis Of Extraterritorial Abetment Under The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
- IJLLR Journal
- Jan 28
- 1 min read
Anirudh Vasudevan, Jindal Global Law School
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the conceptual and constitutional evolution brought by Section 48 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023), which re-codifies the doctrine of extraterritorial abetment in India for the first time. Beyond the territorial frameworks of the Indian Penal Code (1860), it interrogates how culpability and causation may go beyond geography in an age of digital and transnational crimes era with regard to BNS,2023. With the application of a doctrinal and comparative methodology, it analyses the legal architecture of abetment and compares India’s reforms to similar frameworks in the United Kingdom, United States, and Singapore. The paper argues that while the provision enhances the ability of India to tackle cross border offences and its open ended drafting risks breaching constitutional principles of equality, fairness, and due process. It proposes a “Doctrine of Measured Universality,” that is underpinned by necessity, proportionality, and procedural fairness as the cornerstones of the principle. To conclude, India’s claim to global jurisdiction should evolve as an exercise of disciplined responsibility for balancing transnational accountability and the requisite moral restraint that can only be borne from constitutional sovereignty.
