Amit Shah pushes Maharashtra for 100% rollout of new criminal laws, eyes 90% conviction rate

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday asked the Maharashtra govt to ensure 100% rollout of the new criminal laws as soon as possible, particularly in the 10 police commissionerates, and target 90% conviction rate in criminal cases entailing a sentence of more than seven years.
Chairing a review meeting here on the implementation of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) in Maharashtra, in the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shah underlined the need for the state police, govt lawyers and judiciary to join forces to ensure that the guilty are punished as swiftly as possible. He asked Maharashtra to establish a model directorate of prosecution system, as required by the new laws.
The meeting, which reviewed the progress of implementation of various provisions relating to police, prisons, courts, prosecution, and forensics in the state, was attended by the Maharashtra chief secretary and DGP, DGs of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), among others.
Directing the state’s senior police officers to regularly monitor cases of organized crime, terrorism, and mob lynching to prevent the misuse of the sections related to these crimes, Shah said a system should be put in place to record evidence through video-conferencing across facilities such as prisons, government hospitals, banks, forensic science laboratories (FSL), etc. FIRs must be transferred between two states through the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), he said while suggesting that Maharashtra upgrade to CCTNS 2.0 and the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) 2.0.
Shah asked the state chief secretary and DGP to review implementation of the new criminal laws in the state on a bi-weekly and weekly basis respectively.
The home minister said police, as per provisions in the new laws, should provide information about individuals held in custody for interrogation, on an electronic dashboard. He emphasised on the need to improve internet connectivity in police stations, besides insisting on the availability of forensic science mobile vans in every police sub-division, and enhancing of forensic manpower.
Shah urged Maharashtra to integrate the state’s fingerprint identification system with the national automated fingerprint identification system (NAFIS). He also sought establishment of a system by the police to return the property recovered from criminals to its rightful owner.