Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a review meeting today in the national capital to assess the implementation of new criminal laws in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting, held at North Block, was attended by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, and several senior officials.
The discussions focused on the current status of various provisions related to police, prisons, courts, prosecution, and forensics, as outlined in the three new criminal laws: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023; and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023. These laws have replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.
The meeting also saw participation from Union Home Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Secretary, the state’s Director General of Police, the Director General of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), and several senior officials from both the Union Home Ministry and the Jammu and Kashmir government.
In February, Amit Shah had reviewed the implementation of these laws with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, urging prompt implementation across all commissionerates. Shah has conducted similar meetings with other states in recent months, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Haryana.
The Home Minister emphasized that the core goal of these new criminal laws, introduced under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, is to ensure justice is delivered within three years, from the filing of a First Information Report (FIR) to the highest court.
