Delhi govt notifies Witness Protection policy

In a first, Delhi Government today notified a policy regarding protection of witnesses with provisions for a protection fund and processing of such requests by competent authority.
The AAP government said that 'Delhi Witness Protection Scheme' will ensure protection of witnesses in "crucial" cases.
"Witness protection scheme notified by Delhi govt. Delhi becomes the first state to do that," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Twitter.
Delhi High court in 2013 had directed Delhi government to frame a witness protection policy to provide guidelines and principles which the police, prosecution and executive agencies will have to follow for protection of witnesses.

"After much deliberation, it was decided to have a comprehensive policy for protecting witnesses. The policy envisages - categorisation of witnesses, creation of witness protection fund, types of protection and procedure for processing such request by the competent authority," an official statement issued by the Home Department said.
According to a government statement, Delhi Home Department constituted a Sub-Committee comprising of officers of Law Department (Home department), Directorate of Prosecution and Delhi Police.

"Subsequently, DSLSA (Delhi State Legal Services Authority) was included in the process of formulating of the scheme. Accordingly, a scheme known as Delhi Witness Protection Scheme, 2015 was drawn.

"During deliberations, all the aspects relating to witness protection and practices adopted worldwide was studied," the government said.
Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain also tweeted that "Delhi is first state to notify Witness protection policy today.