Tuesday, 14 MAY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The government has made comprehensive changes in the criminal justice system for the first time since Independence through three new criminal laws-Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) 2023, the officiating director general of police of Uttarakhand, Abhinav Kumar said. He stated this in a media interaction- Vartalap organised by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) at the Sardar Patel Bhawan of the Police Headquarters on the three new criminal laws here on Monday. The DGP was the chief guest of the event and was joined by the senior police officers of the State. He said that these three new laws will affect the police, prosecution, prison system and judiciary which are the main components of the criminal justice system. He said that the government has made many changes in the new laws that will significantly improve the justice system. “There are 360 minor and major changes in BNSS, 190 minor and major changes in BNS and 45 minor and major changes in BSA. The Uttarakhand police had started imparting training to all officers and police force about these new laws soon after they were notified in December,” he said. He further informed that the police department has formed six committees to implement these new laws at the State level. These committees are the manpower committee, training committee, CCTNS committee, infrastructure committee, police manual committee and awareness committee. These committees have prepared a plan of action to implement these new laws. He said that forensic investigation has been given utmost priority in the new laws and the State will also need to level up the forensic science laboratories and expert teams at the Thana level. He said that old laws were not quite relevant to the crimes happening at current times with the rise of artificial intelligence that are usually different from the crimes committed with traditional methods.
The director general of PIB, Pragya Paliwal Gaur said that the old laws were more about punishing the culprit but the new laws are focused on justice for the victim. The new laws are citizen-centric, especially in terms of crimes against children and women, she added. The police officers further informed through presentations that the new laws give more rights to the victims and citizens. There is also a provision for a witness protection scheme in the new criminal laws. These laws will also resolve the problem of increasing the number of pending cases in the court, as per the officials.
