Exam Patterns, Syllabus Map and the 2024 Criminal Law Transition
This chapter fixes the scope of the book and how later chapters should be read. It explains where law and the Constitution sit in state police written tests, why reported exam patterns must be checked against the official notice, and how the 2023 criminal law Acts replaced the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act from 1 July 2024. The method and the cross-reference table set out here are used throughout the book.
KarmSakha preparation topics covered
- Law and the Constitution in state police written tests
- Reading reported exam patterns against the official notice
- The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
- Assent, commencement, and the repeal and savings clauses
- Old and new section numbers and the citation form
- Cognizable, bailable and triable-court columns of the BNSS First Schedule
- A five-step method for law questions
- A dated update log for notifications and judgments
Where Law and the Constitution Appear in State Police Tests
State police recruitment tests are run under each state's own notification, so the law content differs from one test to the next. In the material checked for this edition it takes three forms. It can be a named subject: the UP Police Sub-Inspector written test syllabus for the 2026 cycle lists four subjects, one of them 'General Knowledge with Law and Constitution', and the material checked states no marks for any of them. It can sit inside a general-knowledge paper. Or it can be absent from a stage-1 paper altogether.
The UP Police Constable written test was held on 8, 9 and 10 June 2026 across the state, in two shifts, according to the news report checked here. The report gives the test dates and shifts but not the question count, the marks or the section split, so the pattern, and whether any law content is tested, remain unconfirmed until the notice is read. For the railway Sub-Inspector stage-1 test under CEN 01/2024, a secondary exam guide reports general awareness, arithmetic, and general intelligence and reasoning, with no law paper. The official notice was not opened for this edition, and the guide's subject split has not been matched against it, so its question counts are not repeated here and a candidate must confirm from the notice whether any law content is included.
The Constitution frames the whole subject. Police and public order are State subjects under List II of the Seventh Schedule (entries 1 and 2), so each state's police rules and standing orders differ, and questions that turn on them need the state's own text. The constitutional guarantees that bear most directly on police action, in Articles 14, 19, 20, 21 and 22, apply throughout India. The 2023 criminal Acts are central statutes, except that under BNSS section 1(2) most of the BNSS, apart from its Chapters IX, XI and XII, does not reach the State of Nagaland or the tribal areas unless the State Government extends it by notification.
| Test (cycle) | Law content as reported or checked | What this edition confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| UP Police Sub-Inspector written test (2026 cycle) | Subject 'General Knowledge with Law and Constitution' among four subjects | Syllabus page: test scheduled for 14 and 15 March 2026; question counts and marks not confirmed |
| UP Police Constable written test (2026 cycle) | Question count, marks and section split not stated in the source read; whether law content is tested is unconfirmed | News report: test held on 8, 9 and 10 June 2026 in two shifts |
| RRB Sub-Inspector stage-1 CBT (CEN 01/2024) | Reported subjects: general awareness, arithmetic, general intelligence and reasoning; no law paper reported | Secondary guide only; official notice not opened |
Reading Reported Exam Patterns Against the Official Notice
A reported pattern is someone else's description of a notification, and it can be out of date, wrong on a detail, or about a different cycle. The figures that control preparation are the number of questions, the marks per question, the duration, the sectional split, the negative-marking scheme and the syllabus. Each one comes from the notification of the exam you are sitting. This book marks every reported figure as reported and never turns one into a permanent rule.
The pages checked for this edition state no negative-marking rule for either UP test. This book therefore states none and uses no negative-marking figure in any solved example or practice item. Where the notice is silent on a point, the book says so rather than filling the gap from another source.
Dates and records need the same care. The UP Police Sub-Inspector syllabus page, last updated on 30 January 2026, says the written test is 'scheduled to be held' on 14 and 15 March 2026. A scheduled date is not a record that the test took place, and this book does not state that it did. Note the source and its date beside every figure or date you record. A figure with no source does not go into a study plan, and where the notice cannot be reached the figure stays provisional. The table lists what to take from the notice itself, because the reported figures here are silent on those points.
| Item | Where to find it in the notice | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Questions and marks for each subject | Scheme of examination | Sets the weight of any law subject |
| Duration and shifts | Examination pattern | Sets the time available per question |
| Negative marking | Scheme of examination | Changes how you handle uncertain answers |
| Syllabus and reference period | Syllabus annexure | Defines whether a law topic is in scope |
| Dates and status of the cycle | Schedule and result notices | Confirms which cycle the figures describe |
What the 2023 Acts Replaced, and When
Three Acts, each assented to on 25 December 2023, replaced three older statutes. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS, Act 45 of 2023) repealed the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860). The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS, Act 46 of 2023) repealed the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974). The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA, Act 47 of 2023) repealed the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Act 1 of 1872). Each Act's repeal clause sits under the heading 'Repeal and savings'.
Commencement is a separate date from assent. Section 1(2) of the BNS lets the Central Government appoint the commencement date by notification in the Official Gazette, with different dates for different provisions if it chooses. The Ministry of Home Affairs notification appointed 1 July 2024 for the three Acts, as LiveLaw reported in February 2024 when quoting it. Assent marks enactment and commencement marks the day an Act begins to operate, so the two dates answer different questions. A candidate who treats the two as the same date will pick the wrong law in a transition question.
Section 358(2) of the BNS governs offences committed before commencement. The repeal does not affect the previous operation of the IPC, anything duly done under it, any penalty incurred for offences committed against it, or any proceeding in respect of such a penalty, which may be instituted, continued or enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed. Section 358(3) treats anything done under the IPC as done under the corresponding BNS provision. So for an offence committed before 1 July 2024 the IPC still supplies the offence and the penalty, and the BNS governs offences committed on or after that date.
The BNSS and BSA clauses deal with cases already under way. Under BNSS section 531(2)(a), any appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation pending immediately before commencement is disposed of, continued, held or made under the CrPC as it stood before commencement, as if the BNSS had not come into force. Sub-sections (2)(b) and (c) carry notifications, rules, sanctions and consents across to the BNSS, and BSA section 170(2) gives pending matters the same continuity under the Evidence Act. A proceeding started after 1 July 2024 was not pending before commencement, so the new procedural Act governs it. Two dates therefore answer two questions: the date of the act decides the penal law, and the status of the proceeding on 1 July 2024 decides the procedural code. Where a contested case turns on this line, check a current judgment before relying on the point.
| Older Act | Repealed by | New Act | Savings clause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860) | BNS section 358(1) | Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 | Section 358(2) and (3) |
| Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974) | BNSS section 531(1) | Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 | Section 531(2) and (3) |
| Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Act 1 of 1872) | BSA section 170(1) | Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 | Section 170(2) |
Old and New Section Numbers and the Citation Form
Every citation in this book follows one house rule: the new section number comes first, and the old number, where one is given, appears only in brackets. Write 'BNSS section 35(3) (CrPC 41A)', never 'CrPC 41A, BNSS 35(3)', and never a bare 'Section 35(3)', because the same number exists in several Acts. Name each Act in full on first mention in a chapter, then use the short form, so that 'CrPC 41A' and 'BNSS section 35(3)' read the same way in every chapter.
Every pair in the table changed its number, so match by subject, not by number. CrPC section 161, the examination of witnesses by the police, became BNSS section 180, and CrPC section 173, the police report on completion of an investigation, became BNSS section 193. Check the sub-section too, because CrPC 41A maps to BNSS 35(3), not to BNSS 35 as a whole. The table gives only these sixteen pairs, each confirmed by matching section titles in the Gazette text or by the mapping cited in the sources, and no IPC-to-BNS pair. It also names the chapter that explains each provision, so each rule is explained once and cited elsewhere.
