Forensic tests to be must for crimes with 6+ years jail: Amit Shah | India News
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GANDHINAGAR: Union home minister Amit Shah said Sunday that the government could soon provide portable forensic labs to all districts of India to improve the conviction rate for crimes and standardise the investigation process.
The move is part of the government’s push for reforms in the criminal justice system, said Shah, speaking as chief guest of the first convocation at National Forensic Sciences University’s (NFSU) Gujarat campus in Gandhinagar.
He said the Union government has been consulting experts for the past two-and-a-half years for major changes in British-era laws that are outdated for a modern, independent India. “Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the central government is going to make changes in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Evidence Act. Nobody saw these laws from an Indian perspective after independence,” he said
Shah said a forensic report would be made legally compulsory for any offence carrying more than six years of imprisonment. “It will require a large number of forensic science experts,” he said, assuring the graduates of good placements.
A total of 1,132 students of 2020 and 2021 batches received degrees at the convocation, the first after Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU) got the institute of national importance status in 2020 and became NFSU. The students included 91 from 21 countries, primarily from Africa.
Shah remembered his association with the university since its inception and said then CM Modi had envisioned a system to improve conviction rates. “After strengthening forensic science laboratories (FSLs), we realised that it would require experts. Thus, the world’s first forensic science university took shape,” he said.
It’s no longer the age of “third degree”, he said. “The emphasis should be on scientific evidence collection and investigation.”
Shah said his vision is to establish NFSU campuses in all the states by 2025. “As India is marching towards becoming a US$ 5 trillion economy, it would face challenges such as narcotics, fake currency notes and cyber-attacks. To tackle these challenges, we need a strong forensic science discipline,” he said.
The move is part of the government’s push for reforms in the criminal justice system, said Shah, speaking as chief guest of the first convocation at National Forensic Sciences University’s (NFSU) Gujarat campus in Gandhinagar.
He said the Union government has been consulting experts for the past two-and-a-half years for major changes in British-era laws that are outdated for a modern, independent India. “Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the central government is going to make changes in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Evidence Act. Nobody saw these laws from an Indian perspective after independence,” he said
Shah said a forensic report would be made legally compulsory for any offence carrying more than six years of imprisonment. “It will require a large number of forensic science experts,” he said, assuring the graduates of good placements.
A total of 1,132 students of 2020 and 2021 batches received degrees at the convocation, the first after Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU) got the institute of national importance status in 2020 and became NFSU. The students included 91 from 21 countries, primarily from Africa.
Shah remembered his association with the university since its inception and said then CM Modi had envisioned a system to improve conviction rates. “After strengthening forensic science laboratories (FSLs), we realised that it would require experts. Thus, the world’s first forensic science university took shape,” he said.
It’s no longer the age of “third degree”, he said. “The emphasis should be on scientific evidence collection and investigation.”
Shah said his vision is to establish NFSU campuses in all the states by 2025. “As India is marching towards becoming a US$ 5 trillion economy, it would face challenges such as narcotics, fake currency notes and cyber-attacks. To tackle these challenges, we need a strong forensic science discipline,” he said.
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