Uttar Pradesh DGP Prashant Kumar on Tuesday said the new Indian Justice Code 2023, which will come into effect from July 1, emphasizes on justice rather than punishment.

He said the law assures that in case of crime, the victim gets justice within the stipulated time limit.

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“New subjects like terrorism and organized crime have also been included in the new criminal laws,” Kumar said while adding that in the new criminal laws, care has been taken that no party related to the complaint should be harassed.

Talking to the media here, he said that in the new criminal laws, all crimes related to women and children have been kept together in the fifth chapter. There is a provision for strict punishment for crimes against girls below 18 years of age.

At the same time, the victim has now been given the right to get a copy of the FIR free of cost, and it has also been made mandatory to inform about the progress of the investigation within 90 days, he said.

“The Indian Judicial Code makes trafficking of children for labor or prostitution a punishable offence,” he added.

Giving information about juvenile crimes, DGP Prashant Kumar said that often many such cases come to light in which even if the crime was serious, the accused were saved due to their young age, but now on the basis of mental maturity, it will be decided whether the culprit is an adult or not and action will be taken on that basis.

UP DGP said that human trafficking is a big challenge. The laws to deal with it have been further strengthened in the Indian Justice Code 2023. There are provisions ranging from life imprisonment to death penalty for trafficking of any person, prostitution and human trafficking for ransom. Beggary is also included in these laws.

Prashant Kumar said that in the Indian Civil Security Code 2023, the processes from crime scene to investigation and trial have been linked to technology. Victims can file e-FIR in any case. Along with the victim, the witness plays a big role in getting the criminal punished.

He said that the Witness Protection Scheme has been included in the Indian Civil Defense Code 2023 to protect the witnesses from threats. He said witnesses will be given video conferencing facilities to give their testimony.

He said that in view of the increasing pressure of prisoners in jails, many provisions have been added to the new criminal laws. The disposal of cases will be expedited through new technology which will result in quicker delivery of justice, thereby reducing the number of prisoners in jail.

Along with this, a provision for community punishment has been made for small crimes, which will provide relief from unnecessary jail time.

UP DGP said that after the notification came, the police department had started preparations to implement the new criminal laws. Policemen are being trained in all the training institutes in the state.

The special thing about the new criminal laws is that they are gender neutral, which give priority to the protection of the fundamental rights of every citizen. They also ensure accountability of the inspection system in a timely manner and enable the system to respond to new challenges of crime.