New Delhi:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a review meeting on the implementation of three new criminal laws in Jammu and Kashmir, in the presence of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The meeting reviewed the implementation and present status of various new provisions related to police, prisons, courts, prosecution, and forensics in Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting was attended by the Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretary and Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir, the Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), the Director General of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), and other senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the UT administration.

During the discussion in the meeting, Home Minister Shah asked the UT administration to ensure full implementation of the three new criminal laws, made under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Jammu and Kashmir by April 2025. He said that optimum use of technology should be made to ensure speedy justice under the three new criminal laws.

The Home Minister said that for the full implementation of the new laws, it is imperative to change the attitude of the police personnel and the administration and create awareness about the new laws among the citizens.

He stated that with a decline in terror activities and improvement in security scenarios in Jammu and Kashmir, the police should now prioritise safeguarding the rights of its citizens. HM Shah added that there is an urgent need to use the provision of Trial in Absentia in the union territory.

The Home Minister stressed the need to fix the responsibility of police officers to expedite the process of filing chargesheets. He said that every police station in Jammu and Kashmir should put the maximum use of the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) into practice.

He said that 100 per cent training of investigating officers regarding the provisions of the new laws should be ensured, at the earliest. HM Shah said that decisions on provisions related to terrorism and organised crime should be taken only after thorough scrutiny at the level of the Superintendent of Police. He added that strict monitoring is required to ensure that these provisions under the new laws are not misused.

The Home Minister said that the Jammu and Kashmir administration and government have done satisfactory work towards the implementation of the new criminal laws despite difficult circumstances. He said that the progress of implementation of the three new laws in Jammu and Kashmir should be reviewed on a monthly, fortnightly and weekly basis at the level of the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, respectively.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who attended the meeting, later said that some weak areas were pointed out as needing immediate attention.

He said in a Union Territory the elected government is not responsible for implementing the law but indicated that it might play a role in raising awareness about the new law.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday congratulated Chandigarh,which became the first in the country to fully implement the landmark three criminal laws in the country, and said that the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) would be implemented fully across the country within 3 years too.

Addressing a program to dedicate the three new criminal laws to the nation here today, Amit Shah termed it a “golden day for the Indian criminal justice system.”

“Today is a golden day for the Indian criminal justice system – as today – Chandigarh has become the first unit to fully implement all the three new criminal laws. police, jail, judiciary, prosecution, and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), all of these are working to completely implement the new laws,” Shah said.

He said the previous criminal laws, namely the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Evidence Act as laws were only meant for the protection of the British.

“Earlier laws were 160 years old – they were made in the British parliament, they were more for the protection of British rule and not for the people. The laws that PM Modi has brought are made by Indians,” he said.

The new laws are meant to deliver justice, not punishment, he said, “These laws have no place for punishment but justice. It will be implemented in the entire country within three years,” he said.

He also mentioned how a new post has been created, the ‘Director of Prosecution’ to tackle corruption, and how the term sedition has been removed from the laws.

“To tackle and reduce corruption, a new post has been created which is Director of Prosecution. Also, the term “rajdroh” (sedition) has been replaced by “deshdroh” (treason) in the laws. Till now more than 11 lakh FIRs have been registered. Within just 4 months, 9,500 cases have received their judgement,” Shah said during the program.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the same event highlighted that the idea and purpose of old criminal laws, designed by British, was to punish Indians and keep them enslaved whereas the Nyaya Sanhita strengthens the spirit of basis of democracy – “Of the People, By the People, For the People.”

“In 1947, when our country became independent after centuries of slavery, after the wait of generations, after the sacrifices of the people, when the dawn of independence came, what kind of dreams there were, what kind of enthusiasm there was in the country. The countrymen thought that since the British had left, they would also be freed from the British laws. These laws were the means of the British oppression and exploitation,” PM Modi said.

“The idea and purpose of these laws was to punish Indians and keep them enslaved. Unfortunately, for decades after independence, our laws revolved around the same penal code and penal mindset, which was used by treating the citizens as slaves. Small changes were made at times, but the character remains intact. Why we should continue with laws in the independent country that were made for slaves,” the Prime Minister said..

Highlighting the time and efforts involved in the making of the three new criminal laws, the PM said that these laws contain suggestions and guidance from various Chief Justices of India, Chief Justices of High Court, Supreme Court, 16 High Courts, Judicial Academics, several law institutes, people from civil society, etc.

The new criminal laws, which were implemented nationwide on July 1, 2024, aim to make India’s legal system more transparent, efficient, and adaptable to the needs of contemporary society.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

The West Bengal government has constituted a seven-member panel headed by a retired judge of the Calcutta High Court to review the three new criminal laws, an official said on Wednesday.

A notification in this regard was issued on Tuesday, he said. The panel will submit its report within three months from the date of notification.

“The state government is pleased hereby to constitute a committee for reviewing the said criminal laws, i.e. Bharatiya Nyaya Sanita, 2023 (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA),” the Home Department release said.

Meanwhile, Governor C V Ananda Bose called upon Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee “to furnish an immediate report on the objectives of the committee to review the amended CRPC, IPC and the Evidence Act”, a statement released by his office said.

“West Bengal cannot be a state within a state or turned into a banana republic,” it said.

The state government panel headed by Justice (retired) Ashim Kumar Roy also includes the state’s Law Minister Malay Ghatak and Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, the official said.

The three laws came into force throughout the country from July 1.

“The committee shall have the power to engage academic experts, senior advocates, research assistants and other legal experts for seeking their views on the subject matter. It shall also have the power to carry out public consultation,” the notification said.

Banerjee had on June 21 written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to defer implementation of the new criminal laws.

She had also sought further discussion in Parliament on the new laws.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chennai:

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday claimed that the Centre bypassed the Law Commission in enacting the three new criminal laws that came into effect from July 1.

The Law Commission, comprising of retired judges, legal experts, professors, and permanent legal staff, would normally hold consultations with bar council members, and advocate associations and prepare a draft to be presented in the Parliament, he said.

But the Law Commission was bypassed and five or six “part-timers” were appointed for a panel, he said on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, replacing the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act.

“The laws were not referred to the Law Commission nor was it consulted. This is wrong,” Mr Chidambaram said while speaking at a protest organised here by the DMK advocate wing against the new laws.

“World over, the death penalty has been abolished. But, here solitary confinement was included as a punishment, which is an unusual and cruel punishment as per the Constitution,” he said.

Such a punishment was not prevailing anywhere in the world, the former Union Minister added.

“Similarly, life sentence and life sentence to the remainder of life have been included. What is the difference?” he asked.

Further, Mr Chidambram said that he has been insisting upon a debate on the new laws for several months but the government has not agreed it was not prepared for it.

He reiterated that 90-99 per cent of the new laws were cut, copy and paste work. The government could have instead brought a few amendments.

“I did not say there should be no reforms. … they should have brought an amendment. They changed only the section numbers. Advocates, judges and police should now read again,” the Congress leader said.

For instance, even a child or a newly recruited police constable would know that section 302 referred to murder but now this number has been changed, adding to the confusion, he claimed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the three proposed criminal laws are people-centric, have the flavour of Indian soil and their main purpose is to protect the constitutional, human and personal rights of citizens.

Addressing the International Lawyers’ Conference organised by the Bar Council of India here, Mr Shah also said the approach of the three bills is also to provide justice rather than mete out punishment.

He appealed to all lawyers in the country to provide their suggestions to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS-2023), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS-2023) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA-2023) so that the country can have the best laws that benefit all.

The three bills, which were introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11, will replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Criminal Procedure Act, 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 respectively.

“India’s criminal justice system was imprinted with colonial law. All three new bills do not have colonial imprint but have the flavour of Indian soil. The central point of these three proposed laws is to protect the constitutional and human rights of citizens as well as their personal rights,” he said.

Mr Shah said the initiative has been taken to comprehensively change the criminal laws keeping in mind the present-day demands.

“These laws are coming after almost 160 years with a completely new approach and new system. Along with new initiatives, three initiatives have also been taken by the government to create a law-friendly ecosystem,” he said.

The first is e-courts, the second inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS)and the third is adding new technology to these three proposed laws, Shah said.

“With the introduction of three laws and three systems, we will be able to remove the delays in our criminal justice system in less than a decade,” he said.

Mr Shah said the basic objective of the old laws was to strengthen the British rule and the purpose was to punish, not to do justice. “The purpose of these three new laws is to provide justice, not punishment. Here is a step to deliver criminal justice.” 

He said many changes have been made in the new laws to promote technology and the definition of documents has been greatly expanded.

“Legal recognition has been given to electronic and digital records, messages available on digital devices have been recognised and summons will also be considered valid in all types of electronic modes – from SMS to email,” he said.

The home minister said a new provision has been added with regard to mob lynching and the section related to sedition has been abolished and legalising the community service will also be done under these new laws.

“I want to make an appeal to all the lawyers across the country to look at all these bills in detail. Your suggestions are very valuable. Send your suggestions to the Union Home Secretary and we will definitely consider those suggestions before finalising the laws,” he said.

Mr Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that any law can become perfect only when stakeholder consultation is done wholeheartedly.

He also said the system of complete justice can be understood only when one goes to study the laws that touch every part of society.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)