In Assam, conviction rate under new criminal laws up by over 2.5 times to 66%

Guwahati: The three new criminal laws, which were rolled out almost nine months ago across the country, have resulted in over 2.5 times higher conviction rate in Assam compared to the century-old colonial Acts of the earlier phase, a senior official said on Wednesday.

With mandated use of technology during the investigation process, the incidents of witnesses turning hostile have come down drastically during the trials, Assam Police Special Director General (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta told PTI in an interview.

He said that the conviction rate of the cases tried under the three new laws is 66 per cent, while that in matters registered under the old laws now stands at around 25 per cent, an increase of 2.6 times.

"The new Acts have made certain things easier for investigators and the justice system. A lot of importance has been given to digital evidence. It is convenient to place in the court and also tamper-proof for the trial," he added.

Gupta emphasised that videography has been made mandatory during search and seizure operations, making it almost impossible for witnesses to turn hostile in the courts, while introducing e-summons under the new provisions.

"This has become a game-changer for us as investigation has become transparent and accountable. Because of these steps along with some other new rules, the conviction rate of the cases tried under the three new laws has reached 66 per cent," he added.

The conviction rate was arrived at considering all the cases registered under the new laws where judgements have been delivered by courts, meaning 34 per cent have been acquitted.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act (IVA) respectively from July 1, 2024.

The Special DGP said, "The present conviction rate of the cases registered under the old laws in Assam stands at around 25 per cent. It has increased to this level in the last 3-4 years from earlier around six per cent in 2020."

The Assam Police is hoping that the conviction percentage under the new laws will improve further within the next two years as a lot of things are being upgraded continuously, he added.

"There is always a scope for further improvement as we are studying the 34 per cent acquittals... More cases under new laws will come up for trials in the next 1-2 years. Only then, we will see a visible change in the entire Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS)," Gupta stressed.

He said that the investigating officers used to look for shortcuts during tough cases under the old laws, but it is not possible nowadays due to some mandatory steps prescribed in the new acts, leading to increased police accountability.

"The use of technology is exceptionally high now. For any crime with seven years or more punishment, visit of forensic experts to the crime scene is a must. This has improved the quality of evidence, resulting in a higher conviction rate," Gupta said.

The new laws have also prescribed time limits to the judiciary for different stages of the trial such as not more than two adjournments are allowed to defence compared to innumerable such grants during earlier times, he added.

"The scope of appearance of accused, witnesses and experts through video conferencing has also increased now. On an average, around 9,000 undertrials are being produced before the court every month through video conferencing across Assam," Gupta said.

Talking about charge sheeting of the FIRs, the senior official of Assam Police said that it has been able to file it within the stipulated time frame of 60-90 days in 66 per cent of cases of the new laws.

"We should file charge sheets of all the cases within the timeframe and we are working on this. We need more scientific experts for this and the government is carrying out a recruitment drive for the same," he added.

There is also a need to publish different SOPs to help the field officers, especially the lower-ranked ones, and the government is working on this aspect too, Gupta said.

"Before the roll out of BNS, BNSS and BSA, we did 100 per cent training to all, starting from the investigating officers and above. Later, we gave training to even constables. However, learning is a continuous process and we plan to refresh their training again so that nobody makes any mistake," he emphasised.

Gupta said that the new laws are very much "victim-centric" with mandatory inclusion of provisions like 'zero FIR', which need not be lodged at the place of occurrence. A victim can file a complaint anywhere under the new laws and the administration will transfer it to the police station concerned.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police has recently published a book 'New Criminal Laws: Standard Operating Procedures and Rules', which was released by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday while reviewing the implementation of three new criminal laws in the Northeast.

Shah had congratulated the Assam government for ensuring the filing of charge sheets within the stipulated time frame of 60-90 days in 66 per cent of cases and urged other states to follow this approach.