Three new laws will be implemented in Chandigarh from July 1, VC will testify, electronic evidence will be given special importance.
Chandigarh: All three new criminal laws will come into effect in Chandigarh from July 1. The police have made complete preparations. Electronic evidence has been given great importance in the new laws. Therefore, all investigating officers are being provided tablets, pen drives and hard disks. There will be no need to come to the police station for testimony.
Public video conferencing centers will be set up across the city where people can go and connect with the VC. Notification regarding this will be issued in the next few days.
Chandigarh SSP Kanwardeep Kaur told the complete road map at the UT Guest House located in Sector-6 to implement the three new criminal laws Indian Justice Code 2023, Indian Civil Defense Code 2023 and Indian Evidence Act 2023. Punjab and Haryana High Court lawyer Deepak Bajaj was also present on this occasion. SSP told that in November, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had given target to Chandigarh.It was decided in February that the laws would be implemented from July 1. Chandigarh had started preparations from January itself. The SSP told that he himself read all the laws like a student. Till now all the investigating officers have been trained.
There are many changes in the new laws. Public VC centers will be set up in the city for those accused, victims and witnesses who want to give their testimony through video conferencing. In this, DC office, SDM office, hospital, all police stations, jail and court have been marked. After reaching here, any person can give his testimony through video conferencing. Notification will be issued by the administration soon.Use of technology in all stages of crime scene, investigation and trial.
SSP said that a lot of emphasis has been laid on technology in the new laws. NCRB and NIC have helped in this. Crime and criminal tracking network and system has been upgraded.
Videography of any search and seizure is necessary. For this, e-Saakshya app has been created. This app has been installed in the tablet given to the investigating officers.Video-photo will be recorded with GIS tagging. It will also not be possible to tamper with the digital property of the video. Technology will be used in all stages of crime scene, investigation and trial. This will improve the quality of evidence and protect the rights of both the victim and the accused. From FIR, case diary, charge sheet and judgment will all be digitized.
The cases will be run according to the cases registered under old sections.Till June 30, cases will be registered under old sections only. Even after July 1, the cases which have been registered under old sections will continue to proceed accordingly. Only crimes committed after July 1 will be registered under the new laws.
The SSP said that if a crime has been committed before July 1 and the case is registered after July 1, then the case will be registered under the same laws that were in place on the day the crime took place. Told that e-FIR can be lodged in any police station, irrespective of its jurisdiction. The facility of Zero FIR is also available at present but now it will become part of the law. Laws were made for justice, not for punishment.
Advocate Deepak Bajaj said that it is clear from the name of the three new laws that they have been made not for punishment but for justice. There was no emphasis on technology in the old laws, but now a lot of importance has been given to electronic evidence, forensic and scientific evidence.
Everyone’s accountability and timeline have been fixed so that it does not take much time to get justice. New laws have been made in such a way that the guilty do not escape and no innocent person gets trapped in the wrong.
