New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday chaired a review meeting on the implementation of three new criminal laws in Uttarakhand and urged Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to ensure their full implementation as soon as possible. Highlighting that the new laws are victim- and citizen-centric and must be implemented with this spirit, Shah directed the Uttarakhand Chief Minister to review the progress of the laws’ implementation every 15 days.
Additionally, he advised the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP) to conduct weekly reviews with officials from all relevant departments. Shah also instructed the DGP to ensure thorough investigations by all Superintendents of Police. The Home Minister emphasised that the Uttarakhand government should address technological and other deficiencies to achieve 100 per cent implementation of the new laws.
He stressed prioritising the complete enforcement of the laws in police stations and jails, particularly in areas with higher numbers of FIRs. Underscoring the importance of technology, Shah stated that each district should have more than one forensic mobile van. “For forensic operations, teams should be categorised as serious, normal, and less urgent, enabling better utilisation of resources. A protocol should also be established to designate locations for video conferencing, ensuring cameras installed at all sites are of excellent quality,” the Home Ministry statement quoted Shah as saying.
Shah called for regular and continuous monitoring of Zero FIRs, including tracking how many have been resolved and how many have been transferred to other states.
The meeting reviewed the implementation and current status of various new provisions related to policing, jails, courts, prosecution, and forensics in Uttarakhand. The Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretary, DGP of Uttarakhand, Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), Director General of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), and several senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Uttarakhand government attended the meeting.
The new criminal laws–Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA)–were implemented nationwide on July 1, 2024, to make India’s legal system more transparent, efficient, and adaptable to contemporary societal needs.