Five months after three criminal laws came into effect in the country, Chandigarh has become the first among all States and Union Territories to implement the laws in their entirety.
To link key pillars of the criminal justice system — the police, forensics and judiciary — the Chandigarh administration has ramped up Internet speed at police stations, provided new tablets to investigators, and set up video conferencing facilities for speedy trials. The police are also using ‘Chitra Khoji’, a facial recognition software developed by the government, to match photos of suspects with a database of photos of 1 crore prisoners.
DigiLocker, the government’s cloud-based wallet to store documents such as driving licence and Aadhaar, is being used to upload crime scene videos and related information.
Chandigarh Director-General of Police S.S Yadav said since the laws were rolled out on July 1, the police have registered 1,179 first information reports (FIRs) and 245 chargesheets, and secured conviction in four cases.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita replaced the Indian Penal Code of 1860, the Indian Evidence Act of 1872, and the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1898 respectively. As these laws require upgrading infrastructure and forensic capabilities, States have been given five years to implement all aspects of the laws.
Home Minister Amit Shah said on December 3 that the new laws had improved conviction rate from the present 58% to around 85%. Across the country, more than 11 lakh FIRs were filed under the new laws and judgment delivered in 9,500 cases, he added. The new laws have provisions for time-bound investigation and trial and registration of Zero FIRs irrespective of jurisdiction.
Senior Superintendent of Police Kanwardeep Kaur said the Chandigarh Police had registered 14 Zero FIRs since July 1 and all cases pertained to sexual offences against women.
“If a victim files a Zero FIR for a sexual offence at a police station, the police have to complete formalities such as medical examination and send the report online to the police station concerned,” explained Ms. Kaur.
The officer said a woman who was sexually assaulted in Delhi filed a case after arriving in Chandigarh, two months after the crime was committed, as she was under the influence of the accused.
The Chandigarh Police recently transferred another Zero FIR case to the Andaman and Nicobar Police as the crime occurred there and the victim, being a Chandigarh resident, chose to complain here.
There are 20 police stations in Chandigarh including specialised units. As the new law mandates mandatory audio-video recoding of crime scenes and search-and-seizure procedures, police stations were provided 170 tablets, said Mr. Yadav.
“The audio-video recording has a time stamp and once uploaded on Digilocker, it cannot be tampered with as a hash value is generated. The courts can also access the recording. Since the video cannot be downloaded, the chain of custody is intact,” added Ms. Kaur.
At least two courts have become fully online and preparation is on to digitise 30 other courts.
“The new laws have provisions to produce an accused through video conference in a court. It saves resources, fuel and is also safe. In heinous cases, online trial is preferred,” the officer said.
Another official said owing to the sensitivity of the cases registered against alleged gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, he joins all cases in court through video conference.
“In Chandigarh, 80 video-conferencing spots have been identified, which include hospitals, forensic stations and courts where government officials can depose. Five video-conferencing spots are also being set up at the offices of sub-divisional magistrates for private witnesses to depose online,” said Ms. Kaur.
Published - December 08, 2024 08:53 pm IST
