Kurukshetra: Union Home minister Amit Shah on Friday said the enactment of three new criminal laws is the biggest reform the country has witnessed in the 21st century.
He asserted that the new laws will make the process of justice delivery simpler and time bound and after 2026, an FIR will be disposed of in three years on an average.
Shah stressed that the new laws -- the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) -- framed by the BJP-led Centre are going to transform the criminal-justice system in the country.
The BNS, the BNSS and the BSA replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. The new laws came into effect on July 1, 2024.
Shah was addressing a gathering after inaugurating a week-long exhibition on the three new criminal laws in Haryana’s Kurukshetra. He also digitally inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for development projects worth approximately Rs 825 crore for Haryana. The Home minister said there is a perception among people that if they go to a police station, they will not get justice for years. “I can say it with confidence that after 2026, a First Information Report (FIR) will be disposed of in three years on an average and justice will be ensured,” he said.
Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced reforms in many sectors but the enactment of the three criminal laws is the biggest reform the country has seen in the 21st century. PM Modi had said “citizen first, dignity first, justice first” and the laws were framed on the basis of that principle, he said.
In one year since the implementation of the new laws, in 53 per cent criminal cases lodged across the country, chargesheets were filed within 60 days, in 65 per cent cases, they were filed within 90 days, while in Haryana, 71 per cent chargesheets were filed within 60 days and 83 per cent within 90 days, the Home
minister said.