It’s back to the classroom for Delhi police officers to learn new criminal laws, unlearn IPC, CrPC

New Delhi: It was back to the classroom for about 400 Delhi Police officers last week, as they attended three days of lectures organised by the force to prepare them for the on-ground implementation of the three new criminal laws, passed by Parliament during its Winter Session and assented to by President Droupadi Murmu last month.

Armed with notebooks and study material on the soon-to-be-notified laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) 2023, which will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively — the seasoned cops of inspector to special commissioner level ranks, sat listening with rapt attention as a practising lawyer explained the differences between the two sets of laws to them.

Every now and then, one of them would pose a question to the lecturer, or raise a doubt, to have it explained by the legal expert, with the others joining in the discussion.

As ThePrint sat with the officers through the last day of lectures Friday at the Delhi Police headquarters in the national capital’s Jai Singh Road, subjects under the scanner ranged from digital evidence to forensics, and what the new laws said with respect to these.

What, for example, was the new law on the process of producing digital evidence in court?

When the lawyer explained the process of production of digital evidence would depend upon its category — primary or secondary evidence — the next question that popped up was, “If digital evidence is transferred from a computer to an USB for ease of storage, would that be primary or secondary evidence”. Collection of evidence from CCTV footage was also discussed.

“I have just explained the position of laws and the implications the changes have brought on to the investigating officers. There were questions on complications they have faced with the existing laws and whether the new laws will make anything better for them in terms of achieving more credible investigation and higher conviction rate,” said the lawyer, who did not wish to be named.

While most of those who attended the session were hopeful that the new laws would simplify the investigation process, some officers also highlighted the time they would need to get used to newly-introduced sections and “nuanced amendments”.

An officer who attended the training told ThePrint that The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 has mandated the use of forensics in investigating every offence which is punishable for seven years or more, but that is “easier said than done” as there is a massive disparity in the availability of forensic teams in Delhi and frequency of offences attracting punishment of seven years or more.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while introducing the new laws in Parliament for the first time in August last year had said, “our conviction rate is very low, that is why we have worked to promote forensic science. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has taken a historic decision to establish National Forensic Science University. After three years, the country will get 33,000 forensic science experts and scientists every year”.

Meanwhile, a second officer, while talking about the new criminal laws, added, the “new laws are not entirely different from the old laws, although the new ones are more comprehensive and unambiguous in terms of application of sections of laws, collection of evidence and there is a bit of rearrangement in sections.”

With Union Territories set to be the first to implement the new laws, Delhi Police is working on an overdrive to train its officers to adapt to these. Senior Delhi Police officers told ThePrint that a group among the 400 officers trained last week will now train others in the force, to bring them up-to-date on the new laws.

“Before the end of this financial year [in March], we are working to prepare more than 8,500 personnel with a comprehensive idea of the new law and how they should change their approach in investigations,” said special commissioner of police Chhaya Sharma, who is heading a committee set up by Delhi Police to create course material for the training of personnel in the new laws.

According to Sharma, some states meanwhile have shown interest in the training model being adopted by Delhi Police.

“States like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and some Union Territories have sought details about our ways of training officers and the modules we have prepared to help them understand the new laws,” Sharma told ThePrint.

The training

As part of plans to prepare personnel for the soon-to-to-be-notified new criminal laws, Delhi Police last month constituted a 14-member team led by Sharma to prepare course material for investigating officers (IOs) to help them transition to the new laws.

The move came after senior Delhi Police officers met officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs, highly placed sources in Delhi Police told ThePrint.

An order issued by the Delhi Police commissioner’s office announcing the setting up of the Sharma-led committee stated, “This committee shall also endeavour to update the skills of the IOs [investigating officers] under the new laws as mentioned above so that once the notification for application and change over from old CrPC, IPC, and IEA to new BNSS, BNS, and BSA respectively is done, our IOs/staff should be well aware of the procedural aspects as well as the nuances of the changes made in the new sections.”

ThePrint has seen the order.

A senior Delhi Police officer told ThePrint that Sharma has since roped in top lawyer Akhand Pratap Singh, who has served as public prosecutor for the force in many high-profile cases to help the committee.

Delhi Police sources told ThePrint that 65 handpicked “smart and experienced” officers (of assistant commissioner of police to inspector rank) were the first to receive training in the first week of January at the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) in New Delhi.

These 65, along with other senior officers of Delhi Police made up the 400 who attended last week’s lectures by advocates, legal representatives, as well as the Sharma-led committee, at the Delhi Police headquarters.

Beginning next month, 55 of the initial trainees will train a targeted more than 8,000 others in the use of the new laws, sources in Delhi Police told ThePrint. This group of ‘trainers’ are now receiving “special training” from the Sharma-led committee, based on the course material they have prepared.

According to the sources, as part of the envisaged plan to train personnel in the new criminal laws, deputy commissioners of police were told to give the names of station house officers (SHOs), inspectors (investigations) and computer analysts who operate the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems, from all the police stations under them.

Names of investigating officers from special units such as the Crime Branch, Special Cell, Economic Offences Wing, and the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) have also been shortlisted.

These officers will be divided into four groups, each receiving training at four centres at Jharoda Kalan, Wazirabad, Barakhamba Road and Dwarka. While 11 trainers will be deployed at each training centre, 11 others will be kept on stand-by.

“We asked for the names of the officers who have the responsibility of IOs who will be the first responders to the new laws after notification, as the onus of successful implementation will be on their shoulders. Hence, we have made fool-proof planning to ensure proper training of all the relevant sections of the laws,” Sharma told ThePrint.

Sharma added that while the training sessions starting in the first week of February will be concluded in a month, senior officer of Delhi Police would also like to provide opportunity for training to “potential IOs” who may be posted in non-investigative units and positions, but are part of the investigative setup and may be put in a situation or role where they would require a thorough understanding of the laws.

Study material

Meanwhile, those who attended the lectures at the Delhi Police headquarters last week, are still trying to process all that they learnt, and trying to envisage how to put it to practical use once the new laws are implemented.

“There is a greater emphasis on the use of technology in investigation [under the new laws] as the scope of technology in the investigation has been widened significantly according to the new Sakshya Adhiniyam,” an inspector-level officer told ThePrint.

Course material prepared by Delhi Police | Photo: Mayank Kumar | ThePrint

Course material prepared by Delhi Police | Photo: Mayank Kumar | ThePrint

Course material drawn up by the Sharma-led committee also focuses on the system of collection and treatment of evidence under the new laws and changes that would need to be brought into the investigation process.

For ease of understanding, booklets to be distributed to the trainees in next month’s sessions (seen by ThePrint) highlight sections from the old laws and similar provisions under the new legislations.

The trainees will also receive replicas of forms that needed to be filled in during probe, such as seizure notices, and a handbook detailing a set of scenarios and how they need to address each under the new laws, for quick discharge of duties at least in the initial days of implementation of the new laws.

One challenge, according to sources in Delhi Police, is that for now all the study materials prepared by the Sharma-led committee are in English. But this, officers explained, will change in due course, based on feedback from those receiving training.

“We are not recreating the adhiniyam [laws], but we are just explaining the specific SOPs [standard operating procedures] and changes that have been brought in the new laws as well as scenario-based briefs that will guide even inexperienced officers at the initial phase of implementation of new laws,” said Sharma.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)