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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday emphasized urgent necessity of enforcing "trial in absentia" provisions as well as full implementation of new criminal laws in Jammu and Kashmir by April 2025 during a meeting with the Union Territory's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
During the meeting, Shah asked the UT administration for optimum use of technology to ensure speedy justice under the three new criminal laws-- the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023; and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023; that replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. 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 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 decline in terror activities and improvement in security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir, the police should now prioritize safeguarding the rights of its citizens. He stressed on the need to fix responsibility of police officers to expedite the process of filing charge sheets, and that every police station in Jammu and Kashmir should put the maximum use of the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) into practice. The Minister laid stress on 100 per cent training of investigating officers regarding the provisions of the new laws at the earliest. He later said that decisions on provisions related to terrorism and organised crime should be taken only after thorough scrutiny at the level of Superintendent of Police, and added that strict monitoring is required to ensure that these provisions under the new laws are not misused. Shah praised the Jammu and Kashmir administration and government for doing satisfactory work towards the implementation of the new criminal laws despite difficult circumstances. The meeting reviewed the implementation and present status of various new provisions related to police, prisons, courts, prosecution, and forensics in Jammu and Kashmir in presence of other dignitaries that included 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. (ANI)
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