 "The Centre says the new criminal laws will ensure 'speedy justice'. Representative Image/PTI")
The three new criminal laws have come into effect in India. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Act (BSA) have replaced the colonial era Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and Indian Evidence Act, respectively.
These laws will bring several reforms to India’s criminal justice system. The legislation, which the Centre says will ensure “speedy justice”, has provisions like Zero FIR, online registration of police complaints and summoning through electronic modes such as SMS.
After the new criminal laws were enforced, the first FIR was filed at 12.10 am in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior in case of motorcycle theft, reported NDTV. The Delhi Police on Monday (July 1) lodged its first FIR under provisions of the BNS against a street vendor in the Kamala Market.
Let’s look at how India has prepared for the new criminal regime.
Centre’s efforts
The Centre started preparations for a smooth switch to the new criminal laws soon after they were notified on December 25.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has conducted multiple meetings with states and Union Territories (UTs).
An MHA official told the Times of India (TOI) that the ministry has “held regular meetings with states/UTs. States and UTs are geared up in terms of technology, capacity building and awareness generation” to implement the three criminal laws.
The Home Secretary held nine review meetings with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Women and Child Development Ministry, Department of Legal Affairs, iGoT-Karmayogi India, MyGov, Department of Higher Education, Department of School Education and Literacy, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and National Informatics Centre (NIC) for publicity campaign, training and capacity building, as per an India Today report.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWCD, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj ministries organised a webinar in Hindi for 40 lakh grassroots functionaries on June 21. Another such session was conducted on June 25 in English for about 50 lakh people.
The Home Secretary also held five review meetings with Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of States/UTs to chalk out a blueprint for the effective implementation of the three laws, the India Today report added.
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Police, judiciary preparations
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) has come up with 13 training modules to build capacity of various stakeholders including police, prisons, prosecutors, judicial officers, forensic experts and central police organisations.
A training module is being developed for instructing master trainers of all States/UTs through Central Academy of Police Training (CAPT), Bhopal and Central Intelligence Training Institutes (CDTI) Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ghaziabad, Chandigarh, and Bengaluru, reported India Today.
BPR&D has held 250 training courses/webinars/seminars and trained 40,317 officers and personnel.
The bureau is coordinating the efforts of a group of ministries for a synchronised publicity campaign.
States and UTs have undertaken capacity building of more than five lakh officers, including from the police, prison, forensic, judicial and prosecution personnel.
To resolve the queries and issues of the field personnel regarding the implementation of the laws, control rooms have been established with a team of law and police officers, as per the India Today report.
Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy Of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, organised a five-day training session for IAS/ IPS /judicial officers, and for personnel from crime records bureaus, forensic labs, etc, reported Indian Express.
The judiciary has also taken steps to spread awareness about the new laws.
The Department of Legal Affairs has conducted four conferences with representatives from different fields including Chief Justice of India (CJI), judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, senior police personnel and domain experts, an official told Indian Express.
A fifth conference was organised in Mumbai on Sunday (June 30).
The Bar Council of India has mandated the inclusion of the new laws into the curricula of universities and Centres of Legal Education from the 2024-25 academic year.
Public awareness
As per Indian Express, thematic posters and flyers have been shared with all departments, while advisories, press releases, and infographics will be used to spread awareness through social media.
The I&B ministry through the Press Information Bureau has held 17 ‘vartalap’ (conversations) and workshops for the regional media in 20 state capitals. “More vartalaps will be held in other capital cities as well,” a government official told the newspaper.
All India Radio and Doordarshan also spread awareness about the new laws through news bulletins, special in-depth discussion programmes with experts, and explanatory videos, reported India Today.
Technological changes
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has made 23 functional modifications in the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) application to enhance tech compatibility, including the filing of FIRs.
A mobile app web application called NCRB Compendium of Criminal Laws was launched in March.
Technical support is being provided to states/UTs, and support teams and call centres have been set up for regular evaluation and assistance.
NIC has developed applications such as eSakshya, NyayShruti, and eSummon to facilitate videography and photography of crime scenes, judicial hearings and delivery of court summons electronically.
Changes have been made to CCTNS, e-Prison, e-Prosecution and e-Forensic Apps according to the new laws.
Challenges in implementing the new criminal laws
The Opposition has attacked the Centre over the implementation of the new criminal laws , with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge saying that the legislation was “forcibly passed by suspending 146 MPs”.
“INDIA will no longer allow this ‘Bulldozer Justice’ to run on the Parliamentary system,” he declared.
In an interview with The Wire, Senior Advocate Indira Jaising urged the Union law minister and Opposition parties to halt the implementation until the three criminal laws were further discussed and scrutinised. She said they would create “a legal and judicial mess”, warning that “life and liberty could be in danger”.
There could be confusion as the old laws will apply to offences committed before July 1, 2024.
As advocate Samarjit Pattnaik of Karanjawala &Co wrote for Moneycontrol, “For offences committed from 1st July 2024 the three new laws will be applied. This will definitely cause a lot of confusion and it will take some time for the entire judicial and law enforcing system to get used to.”
With inputs from agencies