Union Minister for Home and Cooperation, Amit Shah Thursday held a meeting to review the implementation of the three new criminals laws — Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam — in Gujarat. The meeting was also attended by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel; Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi, and other top officials of the central and Gujarat governments. “Appreciating the work done so far by the Gujarat government in implementing the new criminal laws, Shah said that the Gujarat government should ensure the implementation of the new criminal laws in all commissionerates by April 30, 2025, and across the entire state at the earliest. He said it should be reviewed monthly by the Chief Minister of Gujarat, fortnightly by the State Home Minister and weekly at the level of Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and Director General of Police,” an official release stated. It added that Shah commended the Gujarat government for timely filing of chargesheets in over 92% cases that involved sentences of more than 10 years. Talking about provision of electronic evidence in the new laws, Shah, as per the release, said that the state's Home and Health departments should hold meetings to ensure that post-mortem and other medical reports from hospitals are received electronically. He also emphasised the need to establish a system for recording evidence via video conferencing in prisons, government hospitals, banks, forensic science laboratories (FSLs), and other premises. He added that there should be a video conferencing cubicle for every court in the prisons. As per the release, Shah also said, “The state government should issue circulars to ensure that provisions of organised crime, terrorism, mob lynching, are not misused. For this, strict provisions should be made for permission from the highest level”. He highlighted that the BNSS includes a provision for Trial in Absentia that allows legal action against absconding criminals. He said that Trial in Absentia should be initiated against fugitives who have been evading the country for a long time in cases related to national security.
