J&K: Doda police organise workshop to raise awareness about three new criminal laws

Doda (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], February 20 (ANI): In order to raise awareness regarding the new criminal laws, Doda Police organized a workshop for students and faculty members of the Bhaderwah Campus at Lal-Ded Auditorium.

The workshop, which was organized on Wednesday, outlined the importance of three new criminal laws: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA).

Bhaderwah Superintendent of Police (SP) Vinod Sharma asserted that the workshop informed the people about their rights.

“Doda police initiated the programme to create awareness about the three new criminal laws…The participants of the programme included students and facility members of the Bhaderwah campus. They appreciated our initiative. We informed them about their rights and how the police can protect them,” SP Sharma said.

Vinod Sharma, during his lecture, highlighted the key features of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) besides the importance of these legal reforms in strengthening the police department’s operational capabilities and ensuring the efficient administration of justice.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday emphasized the urgent necessity of enforcing “trial in absentia” provisions and fully implementing new criminal laws in Jammu and Kashmir by April 2025 during a meeting with the Union Territory’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

During the meeting, Shah asked the UT administration to make optimum use of technology to ensure speedy justice under the three new criminal laws that replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively.

He said that the progress of implementation of the three new laws in Jammu and Kashmir should be reviewed on a monthly, fortnightly and weekly basis at the level of the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, respectively.

The Home Minister said that for the full implementation of the new laws, it is imperative to “change the attitude” of the police personnel and the administration and create awareness about the new laws among the citizens.