On Day 1 of new criminal code, 9 cases registered in Ggm

Gurugram: Nine cases were registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in Gurugram on the first day of its enforcement on Monday, police officials said on Tuesday.

The Gurugram cases were related to murder, accidents and theft while a separate case registered in Faridabad dealt with dowry death.

According to officials, special handbooks have been provided to police personnel for understanding the new laws and their sections by comparing them with the British era Indian Penal Code (IPC). The entire justice system of the country, has been running for more than 160 years along with The Evidence Act of 1872 and The Code of Criminal Procedure rolled out in 1974.

The three old laws were replaced with three new criminal laws which are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) respectively which came into force from Monday.

The Haryana Police have claimed to be fully prepared for the new challenge citing that they had held multiple training sessions for all the officers about the three Acts and the amendments which had been brought in.

Haryana director general of police, Shatrujeet Kapur, said that more than 17,000 officers, who are involved in investigating cases, were imparted training before the introduction of the new laws to make them aware about the new legal practices they needed to adopt for investigation in accordance with the new Acts.

“Changes in the CCNTS have already been made so that FIRs against incidents that took place post-midnight of June 30 could be registered accordingly as BNS and the other laws,” Kapur said.

The Gurugram Police have also held multiple training programmes and tests for the officials with emphasis on the officials posted at the level of police stations so that the investigation of cases under the new Acts continue to be smooth.

To ensure effective implementation of the new laws, master trainers from the state-level police training centre trained Gurugram police officers. These trained investigators are now fully prepared to carry out their duties under the new legal framework, officials said adding the speed of feeding data in CCTNS for registering FIRs will initially remain for the new Acts but it will increase once officers memorise and become completely familiar with the new laws.

A 25-day training was given to these officials including five dedicated hours for BSA as more changes have been brought in, they said.

Sandeep Kumar, Gurugram police spokesperson said that the training sessions for all the officers were effective and they will be provided with legal and technical support whenever required. “They are still teaching and familiarising themselves with the new laws and the penal provisions involved in them,” he said.

“Investigations of different types of criminal cases have also been conducted adhering to the new laws to ensure that we are ready for the real-world implementation. As of now, we don’t see any problem,” Kumar said.

“Since Monday, those responsible for filing of online FIRs and overseeing investigations at police stations have been given access to tabulated information linking IPC sections with corresponding ones in BNS,” said Karan Goel, deputy commissioner of police (west).

Narender Bijarniya, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said that the new laws have a lot of involvement of technology and there is emphasis on timely investigation that will help to expedite the trials which till now took a long time to reach the judgement stage in courts.

“The timeline has been defined and the complications are less as compared to earlier laws. The case properties such as impounded or recovered vehicles used to pile up in the police station premises for years taking up a lot of space. Now, they will be disposed of within a time frame,” he said.

The DCP said the laid down Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been given to all the police stations and periodic training will continue to take place until all are not completely familiar with the new law.

“The evidence mechanism is also better in the new Act which will lead to timely trial and stringent punishment. The entire process is smooth,” he said.

On Monday, during the investigation and visit to the spot where a nine-year-old girl in the city was murdered, police teams video recorded the scene of the crime, samples and the statements of all concerned. “This was the first case that was reported in the city under BNS and investigation was conducted according to the new provisions. As per the new rules, a forensic team will visit the crime scene for offences carrying a punishment of seven years or more,” Goel said.

Meanwhile in Faridabad, a separate case was registered on Monday and all officials followed the new SOPs and registered the first case under Sections 80, 85 and 3(5) of the BNS 2023, in connection with a dowry death.

The now-scrapped IPC had 511 sections, while the BNS has been streamlined to 358 sections, the CrPC had 484 sections but BNSS includes 531 sections. The BNS introduces community service as a form of punishment. To ensure public awareness, the Gurugram Police are actively informing the community about these new laws.