Saying “the days of third-degree torture are over” and calling for scientific evidence to be the basis of police investigation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre plans to bring about “radical changes” in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act to make them modern and relevant to the needs of present times.
He also proposed that forensic investigation be made compulsory for any crime that entails a punishment of six or more years.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Centre for Excellence for Research and Analysis of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances at the National Forensic Science University (NFSU) in Gandhinagar on Monday, Shah said, “Bharat sarkar ek bahut bada abhi samvad kar rahi hai… ki hum CRPC, IPC aur Evidence Act… teeno mein aamul chool parivartan karna chahte hain, aaj ke samay ki zarooraton ke hisaab se usko hum aadhunik banana chahte hai aur jo kaalbaahiyan ho gayi hai, un cheezon ko nikaal kar jo aaj ke challenges ko meet karne ke liye hum nayi dharayein jodna chahte hai… Mera bahut purana suggestion hai ki 6 saal ke upar saza wale sabhi apradho me forensic science ka visit compuslory karna hai. Dikhne me toh bahut sunerha sapna hai lekin manpower kahan hai (The Indian government is in talks… to bring about radical changes in the IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act. We want to make them modern as per the needs of the times and remove outdated elements and meet today’s challenges by adding new sections. I have had a suggestion for long that for all crimes in which the punishment is above six years, the visit of the forensics team should be compulsory. The prospect sounds great but do we have the manpower for it)?”