A criminal justice system (CJS) that is already under great stress could struggle, at least to begin with, to absorb the changes. (Representational image/File)
On July 1, the recently passed criminal laws will come into force in the country. A cross-section of stakeholders, including government officials, law enforcement agencies, legal professionals and academic institutions have raised concerns about the system’s readiness to alter the criminal justice regime. The Centre has asked ministries and other crucial stakeholders to include the new laws in their training programmes to facilitate a smooth transition.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has 358 sections, compared to the 511 in the IPC. Twenty new crimes have been defined, and among other changes, the extent of punishment has been enhanced in 33 crimes. The BNS has a new chapter dealing with “Crimes against Women and Children” and refers to offences of terrorism, organised crime, mob lynching, snatching and murders because of race, caste, and community animosities.
The Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) contains 531 sections, instead of the 484 in the CrPC. It has two new chapters, bringing the total number of chapters to 39. A key highlight of the BNSS is the addition of time-frames to 35 of the total sections and the mention of new-age technologies like audio-video media.
The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) now has 170 sections in place of the 167 sections in the Evidence Act. Twenty-four provisions have been amended. Moreover, the numbering of the provisions under BNS, BNSS, and the BSA differs from that under the IPC, CrPC, and IEA.
Training needs
The text of any law is put to the test when applied on the ground. A criminal justice system (CJS) that is already under great stress could struggle, at least to begin with, to absorb the changes. The new laws would take years to evolve and mature. That happened in the case of the Indian Penal Code and other laws as well. The real test will begin when the stakeholders engage with the laws and courts take them up for interpretation. These challenges underline the urgency and importance of the extensive training being advocated.
According to the India Justice Report 2022, India’s police force has a strength of 20.94 lakh. There are only 211 training institutes for these officers. On average, therefore each institute is expected to train 12,744 persons – though the number of officers and institutes is not equally divided amongst the states. The report also mentions that training gets only 1.3 per cent of the police budget. Of this, only 84 per cent is utilised.
Other than low budget allocations for police training, another problem is the ability of states to spare their personnel for training. It is well known that the country’s criminal justice system is understaffed and overworked. The report mentions a 22.1 per cent gap between sanctioned positions and actual strength. The issue could have been resolved through the use of technology and the modernisation of the police force. However, only Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, and Puducherry have utilised their modernisation budget entirely.
There are also questions about the capacity of states to train their prison personnel. India has a significant deficit in prison personnel. The report reckons that while 2,770 posts are required to achieve the ideal ratio of 1 correctional officer for 200 prisoners, only 1,391 posts have been sanctioned across the country. Only 886 of these posts have been filled. Sparing prison officers for training would have been difficult even if we had the ideal number of correctional officers. But in the current situation, the task seems impossible.
Shortfall of judges
In the case of the judiciary, the report states that as compared to the sanctioned number of judges — at 24,631 for lower courts, 1,108 for high courts and 34 for the Supreme Court — the actual number of the judges is 19,286 at the lower courts, 778 at the high court and 27 for the Supreme Court respectively (currently, there are 33 judges at the SC). More than 4.9 crore cases were pending with the judiciary, as of 2022 end. Moreover, the report says that the workload of each judge appears to be increasing with time while the number of sanctioned posts remains unchanged.
The new laws emphasise the use of forensics. According to the Forensic Science India Report by Project 39A at NLU Delhi, 901 of the 2,357 scientific posts in state and central forensic agencies are vacant. The report suggests that not only do we require at least 900 more posts to be created but the lack of a regulatory body and low pay scales have resulted in irregular training practices and low occupancy of these scientific posts.
The way ahead
The effective implementation of the new criminal laws in India requires a proactive approach towards enhancing the training needs of criminal justice officers. Two suggestions can be considered at this stage. One, the existing police officials must be trained to deal with the essential forensic work of preserving the crime scene and collecting and packing exhibits until a cadre of forensic personnel becomes available. Two, young forensic researchers and postgraduates in forensics should be trained as “para forensic workers to assist the local police.
The author is Vice Chancellor, National Law University Delhi. He served as Convenor-Member of the Committee on Criminal Law Reforms. The views are personal
