Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said J&K police should now prioritize safeguarding citizen rights and asked J&K government to ensure full implementation of the three new criminal laws in the Union Territory by April.
Chairing a review meeting here on the implementation of the three new criminal laws in Jammu and Kashmir in the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Shah said that with a decline in terror activities and improvement in security scenario in the union territory, the police should now prioritise safeguarding the rights of its people.
During the discussion in the meeting, the Home Minister asked the J&K government to ensure full implementation of the three new criminal laws by April 2025.
He said for the full implementation of the new laws, it is imperative to change the attitude of the police personnel and the administration and create awareness about the new laws among the citizens.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 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 from July 1 last year.
The Home Minister said optimum use of technology should be made to ensure speedy justice under the three new criminal laws.
Shah said there is an urgent need to use the provision of Trial in Absentia in the union territory.
He stressed on the need to fix responsibility of police officers to expedite the process of filing charge sheets.
The meeting reviewed the implementation and present status of various new provisions related to police, prisons, courts, prosecution, and forensics in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that every police station in Jammu and Kashmir should put the maximum use of the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) into practice.
Shah said a 100 per cent training of investigating officers about the provisions of the new laws should be ensured, and at the earliest.
He said decisions on provisions related to terrorism and organised crime should be taken only after a thorough scrutiny at the level of Superintendent of Police and strict monitoring is required to ensure that these provisions under the new laws are not misused.
Shah said the Jammu and Kashmir administration and government have done satisfactory work towards the implementation of the new criminal laws despite difficult circumstances.
He said the progress of implementation of the three new laws in Jammu and Kashmir should be reviewed on a monthly, fortnightly and weekly basis at the level of the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, respectively.
The meeting was also attended by top officials of the union government and UT administration.