Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Thursday, directed the Gujarat government to ensure the implementation of the three new criminal laws across all the commissionerates of the state by April 30, 2025 and the entire state as well at the earliest.

Shah was chairing a review meeting in New Delhi on the implementation of the new criminal laws in Gujarat in presence of Gujarat Chief MInister Bhupendra Patel. He extensively discussed the progress in the implementation of the the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), replacing the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.

Advertisement

Appreciating the work done by the state government in this regard, he said it should be reviewed on a monthly basis by the CM, fortnightly by the state home minister, and weekly at the level of the chief secretary, additional chief secretary (Home) and the director general of police (DIG).

In the meeting, the present status of the enactment of the legislation, and its various provisions related to the courts, police, forensics, and prosecution in Gujarat, were also reviewed.

During discussion, Shah said the essence of the three new criminal laws introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi lies in the provision of delivering justice within three years, from the filing of an FIR till the Supreme Court’s verdict in any case.

He stated that Gujarat has commendably achieved timely filing of charge sheets in over 92 per cent of cases involving sentences of more than 10 years.

He emphasised that for the remaining cases, a review should be conducted to ensure the utilization of the provision in the Act that allows seeking permission from the court.

Shah also mentioned that the state has also done a commendable job in converting Zero FIRs into 100 per cent regular FIRs, while he emphasized the need to establish a system where FIRs can be transferred between two states through the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), suggesting the Gujarat should adopt CCTNS 2.0.

On the provision of electronic evidence in the new laws, the home minister said the state’s Home and Health Departments should conduct meetings in a bid to make sure that all medical reports regarding cases including post-mortem and others are received electronically from hospitals.

He laid emphasis on the need to put in place a system to record evidence through video conferencing in prisons, government hospitals, banks, forensic science laboratories (FSL), and other places premises, further stating that there should be a video conferencing cubicle for every court in the prisons.

The Union Home Minister said the police should provide the details about the people detained for questioning on the electronic dashboard, along with the seizure list and the cases to be forwarded to the courts.

He also directed the DGP for continuous monitoring of these cases, and also asked to increase the network connectivity speed in police stations to 30 mbps over the prescribed standards.

The HM also emphasized the availability of at least two forensic science mobile vans in every district, while stating that efforts should be made to ensure that all 12 kits used in mobile forensic vans are manufactured in India.