NEW DELHI: Terming the framing and implementation of the three new criminal laws as the biggest reform in Independent India, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that they are framed in such a way that all rights of citizens are protected and no criminal goes unpunished.
Speaking at a function here to mark the one year of implementation of the three laws - Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), Shah asserted that they would completely overhaul the criminal justice system in the country.
“I assure that these laws will take a maximum of three years for their full implementation. I am also confident that justice up to the Supreme Court will be delivered within three years of filing an FIR,” the Home Minister said.
The BNS, BNSS and the BSA replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872, respectively. The new laws came into effect on July 1, 2024.
Shah termed the three laws as the biggest reform of Independent India and said that the use of technology will ensure that no criminal can escape punishment after committing a crime, while justice is delivered within a timeframe and in a lighter vein he said that now “Bollywood would not be required to write dialogues like ‘tarikh pe, tarikh’”.
“The Narendra Modi government, your chosen government, has made the laws for you and it will protect all your rights,” he noted.
Since July 1, 2024 all fresh FIRs were registered under the BNS. However, cases filed earlier continued to be tried under the old laws till their final disposal.
The new laws brought in a modern justice system, incorporating provisions such as Zero FIR, online registration of police complaints, summons through electronic modes such as SMS and mandatory videography of crime scenes for all heinous crimes.
These laws have taken into account the current social realities and modern-day crimes and are going to provide a mechanism to effectively deal with these, keeping in view the ideals enshrined in the Constitution.
Shah, who piloted the laws, said the new laws would give priority to providing justice, unlike the colonial-era laws that gave primacy to penal action.