Conviction rate to go up with new criminal laws: Amit Shah

Chandigarh, Dec 3: The conviction rate will go up with the implementation of the new criminal laws that will then lead to a drop in crimes, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.

The biggest feature of the new criminal laws is that their soul is Indian and their objective is to provide justice, he further said.

Shah was addressing a gathering at an event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the successful implementation of the three new criminal laws.

The new laws -- the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam -- came into effect on July 1, replacing the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.

Chandigarh has become the country’s first administrative unit to achieve 100 per cent implementation of the three laws.

After the implementation of the new laws, justice will be ensured in less time, the conviction rate will be higher and, because of that, the crime rate will drop, Shah said.

Of the FIRs registered under the new criminal laws in Chandigarh, judgment in 9,500 cases have come with the conviction rate being more than 85 per cent against the current rate of 58 per cent, he said.

Referring to the colonial-era laws, Shah said they were framed by the British for the security of their rule rather than the citizens.

The three new laws were drafted by Indians in Parliament to ensure that citizens get justice, the home minister said.

The new laws give primacy to justice over punishment. The objective of the new laws is to ensure justice for citizens, Shah said.

After the complete implementation of these laws in three years, India’s criminal justice system will be the world’s most modern, he asserted.

These new laws will prove to be the “biggest reform” in the world, he said.

All five pillars of the criminal justice system -- police, prisons, judiciary, prosecution, and forensic science laboratories -- have been modernised with the new laws, Shah added.