Over 556,000 FIRs registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita since July 1

Over 5.56 lakh First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered across the country under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) ever since its introduction on July 1, a senior official said on Wednesday.

For smooth implementation of the new criminal laws, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also developed several mobile applications, including e-Sakshya for capturing, storing and retrieving evidence through videography and photography.

The app has been adopted by 22 states and Union Territories and tested by 24 states and UTs.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Act replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872 respectively.

Since July 1 till September 3, a total of 5.56 lakh FIRs have been registered in the country under the BNS, the officer said, highlighting the achievements of the home ministry in the first 100 days of the Modi 3.0 government.

Software patches have been designed and deployed in the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) pillar applications to incorporate the new criminal laws.

The key changes in the CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems) include e-Prisons, e-Forensics, e-Prosecution, use of audio-video electronic means and electronic communication among others as per the new criminal laws.

Application patches of CCTNS/ICJS (23 patches developed by the NCRB), e-Forensics (6 patches developed by the NIC), e-Prosecution (7 patches developed by NIC) and e-Prisons (9 patches developed by the NIC) for implementation new criminal laws shared with all the states and UTs, another official said.

A mobile and web application, NCRB SANKALAN of Criminal Laws, has been designed to help the users navigate the new criminal laws and till date has been downloaded approximately 5.85 lakh times.

The home ministry has set up a CCTNS technical support call centre with helpline number (14415) to assist the states and UTs.

Another app, Nyay Shruti, has been launched for efficient and secure communication between all pillars of ICJS ecosystem.

Testing has been done on e-Summons application which will facilitate the electronic delivery of summons and warrants from the courts to police stations, and subsequently to the concerned individuals which has been shared with all the states and UTs for their usage.