Home Secretary meets police chiefs of UTs before introduction of new criminal laws

Home Secretary meets police chiefs of UTs before introduction of new criminal laws

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla had his first meeting with the police chiefs of Union Territories (UTs) days after it was decided at the All-India Conference of Director/Inspector Generals of Police in Jaipur that three new criminal laws should be rolled out in a targeted manner in all the UTs.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will likely notify the three new criminal laws by January 26 and the Centre has decided to form a team of 3,000 officers, who will, in the coming months, train police officers, investigators, and forensic experts to implement the new laws.

Parliament passed the new laws in the winter session. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the three laws on December 25, although the date from which they come into effect have not been notified yet.

Sources said before the DG/IG’s conference, it was decided that after the Centre’s notification, three new criminal laws will be implemented in Chandigarh, but it was changed in the three-day meet of police chiefs and it was decided that new criminal laws should be rolled out in a targeted manner in all UTs.

On January 9, Bhalla had a meeting, which lasted for around one-and-a-half hours, of all police chiefs of UTs to review their preparedness where he also gave several directions to them.

“He reviewed the preparedness of all UTs and is learnt to have directed to start conducting training courses of all the investigation officers. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) is preparing the module, so all police chiefs have been asked to coordinate with them and also for the training,” an official said, adding that Bhalla specifically is also learnt to have directed them to aware women and girls about the new laws after visiting schools and colleges.

Director-General of Police (Puducherry), Dr B Srinivas told The Indian Express that they have started a training course for their personnel. “We are also calling judicial officers from Chennai to give training to our police personnel. We have also decided to start an awareness programme and will distribute pamphlets, mentioning about the changes in law, so that people will get to know about the changes as well as law,” he said.

In the DG’s conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted the state police chiefs to think imaginatively to convey the emotional spirit behind the newly enacted laws to different sections of society. Laying emphasis on sensitizing women and girls about rights and protection provided to them under the new criminal laws, he exhorted the police to focus on women safety by ensuring that women could work fearlessly “kabhi bhi aur kahin bhi (anywhere and anytime)”.

In the meeting, Bhalla also discussed the upgrade of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) and their Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS). “Some of the DGPs also informed that they have formed several committees in their UTs to assess the upgrade of infrastructure and also to make modules,” an official said.

Citing an example, an official said six committees have been formed in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. “In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, they have formed legal committee to study the legal framework, preparation/modification of SOPs/circulars, manuals etc.; training committee to develop and impart multi-layered training to all ranks of police, prosecution prison and all other stakeholders; technical upgradation committee for the assessment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure gaps and requirements, deployment of the additional ICT Infrastructure at ground level and its upkeep as well as upgrade in CCTNS/ICJS, enhancement of forensic capacity etc.; financial committee for projection of financial requirement for procurement of the ICT infrastructure, expenditure on capacity building, purchase of equipment etc.; and digital investigation committee to look into the preparation of SOPs to oversee transition to digital investigation and implementation of e-FIR, enhancement of digital storage capacity, purchase of new equipment/devices etc,” the official said.

An official said training courses have been started in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu for the personnel. “We have tied-up with the Gujarat National Law University, Rashtriya Raksha University, Gandhinagar Gujarat, and the Central Detective Training Institute Hyderabad to train our personnel. We are also coordinating with the NCRB and BPR&D,” the official said.

For the latest news from across India, Political updates, Explainers, Sports News, Opinion, Entertainment Updates and more Top News, visit Indian Express. Subscribe to our award-winning Newsletter Download our App here Android & iOS