Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah described the 3 new criminal laws that came into effect across the country from today as justice-oriented rather than punishment, and victim-centric. He said that in the new laws priority will be given to justice instead of punishment, speedy trial and speedy justice instead of delay and protection of the rights of the victims will be ensured. Addressing a press conference held in New Delhi, Shri Amit Shah said that various misconceptions are being spread about the new criminal laws, which aim to create confusion in the minds of the public about these laws. He said that every aspect of the new laws has been discussed extensively with different stakeholders for four years and no law in Independent India has been discussed at such length.
The Home Minister said that after 77 years of independence, India’s criminal justice system is becoming completely indigenous and these three new laws have been implemented in every police station in the country from today. Shri Amit Shah said that these laws have replaced punishment with justice, speedy-trial and speedy-justice instead of delay. Along with this, earlier laws only protected the rights of the police but these new laws now have provisions to protect the rights of victims and complainants as well.
Shri Amit Shah said that the three new laws reflects the Indian spirit in the entire criminal justice system of our country. He said that there are many provisions in these laws which will be beneficial for the people of the country. He said that in these laws, many disputed provisions which were continuing from the British time and were creating problems for the people have been removed and new sections have been added which are of relevance today.
The Union Home Minister said that in these laws the priority of sections and chapters has been fixed in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of India. He said that the first priority has been given to crimes against women and children. He said that by adding a new chapter on crimes against women and children, which has 35 sections and 13 provisions, the new laws have been made more sensitive. He said that similarly there was no provision in earlier laws for the crime of mob lynching but in these new laws, for the first time, mob lynching has been defined and severe punishment has been provided for it. Shri Shah said that in the new laws, the law of sedition made by the British has been abolished. He said that a new section has been added for anti-national activities in the new law under which there is a provision of severe punishment for those who damage the unity and integrity of India.
Shri Amit Shah said that the three new laws will create the most modern judicial system after its full implementation. He said that technology has not only been adopted in the three new laws, but provision has also been made in such a way that all the technologies that will come in the next 50 years can be included in it. He said that 99.9 per cent police stations across the country have been computerized and the process of generating e-record was already started in 2019. He said that Zero-FIR, e-FIR and charge sheet will all be digital in the new laws. Shri Shah added that the new laws also set a deadline for the completion of all procedures, with full implementation of the laws will end the endless wait for justice. He also said that justice up to Supreme Court can be done in 3 years from filing of FIR.
The Union Home Minister said that the new laws have made forensic investigation mandatory in offenses punishable by 7 years or more, which will help speed up justice and take the conviction rate up to 90%. Shri Shah said for making forensic visit mandatory in the new laws, the Government worked with a foresight and built National Forensic Science Laboratory in 2020 itself. He said that trained manpower will be required for this purpose and in the country, there will be more than 40,000 trained manpower after three years. He said that Union Cabinet recently decided to set up campuses of Forensic Science University and establish 6 Central Forensic Laboratories in 9 more states.
Shri Amit Shah said that the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 has also leveraged technology in the field of evidence. He said that several provisions have been made to increase the credibility of electronic evidence. Now server logs, location evidence and voice messages have been interpreted as evidence. Shri Shah said that these three laws will be available in all the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and the court proceedings will also take place in those languages.
The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the Ministry of Home Affairs, Home Department of each state and the Ministry of Justice have made a lot of efforts to implement these laws. He said that in the new laws, sections have been added according to their relevance today and many such sections which were disputed ones have been removed, as they were creating problems for the people. Shri Shah said that, against a target of 12000 Master Trainers to train about 22.5 lakh policemen on new laws, more than 23 thousand Master Trainers have been trained with the help of authorized institutions. He said that 21,000 subordinate judiciary officials have been trained in the judiciary and 20 thousand public prosecutors have been trained. Mr. Shah added that these laws were discussed in the Lok Sabha for a total of 9 hours and 29 minutes in which 34 members participated and gave their views, while in the Rajya Sabha it was discussed for 6 hours and 17 minutes in which 40 members participated. He said that a lie is being spread that the laws were passed after the expulsion of the members of Parliament. He said that the expelled members still had an option to come to the House and participate in the discussion to express their views, but not a single member did so.
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