JAMMU, APRIL 4: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today chaired a high-level Steering Committee Meeting of senior functionaries of the Home, Police, and Law Departments to review the implementation of three new criminal laws in J&K enacted by the Parliament in 2023.
Apart from the Principal Secretary, Home, the meeting was attended by DG, Prisons and Crime, Director, Prosecution J&K, ADG, L&O; Secretary, Law, Director, FSL, and other concerned officers of the department while Srinagar-based officers participated through video conferencing.
The Chief Secretary took note of the measures taken so far regarding the capacity building and training of personnel. He enquired about the batches of police officers from each wing who had got the required training and education about new laws.
He called for the designation of a senior Police Officer as a single point contact for the implementation of these laws across J&K. He observed that this Nodal Officer should address all the issues and facilitate between different wings of the police department in the adoption of all the changes made in these laws within the stipulated timeframe.
He asked about the changes to be made in the Police Manual here. He told them to look into the need for issuing the SOs to meet the purpose within the deadline. He sought suggestions from members of the steering committee about the efforts made so far and the way ahead to make the maximum out of the available time.
In his presentation, the Principal Secretary, of Home, Chandraker Bharti, threw light on different initiatives taken by the local administration in this pursuit, so far. He revealed that the three pillars of our strategy in the implementation of these laws rest on capacity building and training of the staff, the requirement of additional manpower, if any, and the requirement of upgradation of hardware and technological interventions to be made.
It was also revealed that the committees and study groups were constituted to have insights into these laws and frame a roadmap to implement these laws in the UT.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam had been recently notified by the MHA for their implementation from July 2024. These are going to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively.
