Full implementation of new criminal laws will ensure justice within three years: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addresses the 'Gopalak Sammelan', at BHEL Dussehra Ground, in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the full implementation of India’s new criminal laws would enable cases to be disposed of within three years, from the filing of an FIR to the Supreme Court. “India’s judicial system was once known for its ‘tareekh pe tareekh’ taunts, but now, with the full implementation of the new criminal laws, justice will be delivered within three years, from the filing of an FIR to the Supreme Court,” he said. Shah was addressing the conference after inaugurating an exhibition on the new criminal laws at Dussehra Ground in Bhopal’s BHEL area. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) came into effect on July 1, 2024. Shah said the laws incorporate science and technology into forensic investigations and include provisions concerning women’s safety, mob lynching, missing children and terrorism. He said the laws enacted under British rule were intended to preserve that rule, while the new laws were designed to protect the “honour, property, and body of Indian citizens”. “The fundamental principle of these laws is justice, not punishment. The provision of punishment is only to deter criminals from committing crimes. After the full implementation of these laws, our criminal justice system will be among the most modern in the world,” Shah said. Shah also said the government was working on a detailed plan to ensure drug abuse becomes non-existent in Madhya Pradesh after December 31, 2029.

Turning to the cooperative sector, Shah attacked the Congress alleging that since Independence, poeple involved in agriculture, rural development, and cooperatives had been demanding a separate ministry, but the then-ruling party “prevented the establishment of such a ministry for 75 years”. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a new direction to the cooperative sector by establishing a separate Ministry of Cooperation. Our cowherds will benefit the most from this. Middlemen take a large share of the profit when milk is sold in the open market, but there is no place for them in the cooperative model,” he said. At the event, the foundation stone was laid for a Rs 255-crore milk processing plant in Ujjain, with a capacity of three lakh litres per day. Officials also said an MoU had been exchanged between KRIBHCO and the Madhya Pradesh State Biodiversity Board to develop an urban forest in Bhopal under the Morvan Project.