Transnational Cybercrime Jurisdiction under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023: Mapping the Gap Between Substantive Reach and Procedural Enforcement

Cybercrime is often considered naturally transnational: ransomware servers may be located in one country, the victim in another, and the data flows through a third. In recent years, we have seen that India as a nation has adopted the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS), but still, the territorial assumption regarding the jurisdiction and trial of the case depends upon the Code of Criminal Procedure Act 1973. Various laws, such as the extraterritorial provisions of the IT Act 2000, in the Indian legal system still struggle to have effective provisions that deal with cybercrime that has taken place outside Indian Jurisdiction. In this article, we will map out the jurisdictional void across investigation, trial, and enforcement outcomes against offenders who are abroad. We will also evaluate the procedures of BNSS and address these gaps effectively using these procedures. Our main objective will be to conduct a critical analysis of the matter to formulate a framework combining statutory amendments, treaty accession, and institutional capacity building.